“They were looking to kill us, absolutely to kill us,” said the commando member, who also said he was unarmed when he dropped onto the Marmara.
The press briefing took place at a secret location at an Israeli naval base in the Port of Ashdod, approximately 25 miles south of Tel Aviv.
The commando member, was only identified as First Sgt. Y, and read a prepared statement and took no questions. The press was also not allowed to photograph him or get his full name.
The foreign diplomats, including Dutch and Greek, who had not been allowed to contact any passengers, were trying to get information about their citizens. Some names were provided to diplomats after the press briefing.
During the briefing, First Sgt. Y recounted in a prepared statement that he was part of a commando unit that dropped onto the deck of the Marmara from helicopters. He was in the first chopper. He said that all of the members of his unit who landed on the deck were attacked by a mob of 10-15 people.
The sergeant appeared badly shaken and was cradling his left arm before he spoke.
According to First Sgt. Y, the activists were armed with steel clubs, knives, and pepper spray. Some of the commandos were thrown off the boat into the water. Video footage being circulated on the Internet of the clash corroborates many of the soldier’s accounts. Other reports said that the flotilla activists tried to break the soldiers’ arms and legs.
“We were in shock. We weren’t prepared for that [the attack],” he said.
He added that the activists seemed very well prepared. “It was an organized and preplanned attack.”
“It wasn’t a feeling that they came to defend, they came to attack,” he said.
The sergeant stated that he and the others in his unit landed unarmed. “We came to stop them, calmly and peacefully,” he said.
“I came down and just saw war. They were looking to kill us, absolutely to kill us.”
Later, he mentioned that he had a paint ball gun resembling an ordinary rifle. However, at the briefing, First Sgt. Y had a handgun tucked in the back of his uniform pants. Avital Leibovich, foreign press liaison for the IDF, said that First Sgt. Y had come directly from the mission aboard the Marmara.
The IDF has not made any statement detailing how nine activists died in the clash, as they have reported, nor how many were injured. The names of the deceased have not yet been released.
