... OBAMA'S CONDOLENCES
In a telephone call with Erdogan, Obama expressed his condolences for those killed in the raid, four of them Turks, and reiterated U.S. support for an impartial investigation "of the facts surrounding this tragedy," the White House said. He said it was important to find "better ways to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza without undermining Israel's security," the White House statement added. "I think the situation from our perspective is very difficult and requires careful, thoughtful responses from all concerned," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Washington. The United Nations called for an impartial investigation of the deaths of the nine people, four of them Turks. The Israeli military said the deaths occurred when commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, the cruise ship on which most of the violence occurred, from helicopters and dinghies and opened fire in what Netanyahu said was self-defense. The U.N. Security Council statement drew a sharp response from Israel, which said its foreign minister complained in a telephone call with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that it was condemned unfairly for "defensive actions." Cairo announced the opening of its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamist group Hamas, an offshoot of Egypt's main opposition. Hamas requested the opening. Cairo, coordinating with Israel, has rarely opened the border since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007. While Israel grappled with world criticism, its navy said it was ready to intercept another aid vessel that organizers of the flotilla planned to send to the Gaza Strip next week. Netanyahu convened his security cabinet to debate what Israeli critics called a botched raid, and ministers said the naval blockade of 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip would continue, despite condemnation from allies. "The opening of a sea route to Gaza would pose a tremendous risk to the security of our citizens. Therefore we continue a policy of a naval blockade," Netanyahu told his ministers. ... http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100601/ts_nm/us_israel_flotilla
