“The Council of Ministers considers today’s carnage an outrage against the whole world, reflecting Israel’s inhuman methods in challenging international laws. This also betrays Israel’s insistence on starving the Palestinian people by blockading any means of taking humanitarian aid to Palestine with the intention to kill innocent people,” said Minister of Culture and Information Abdul Aziz Khoja, following the weekly meeting chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah here on Monday. The Cabinet also called on the international community to take the responsibility of countering Israel’s savage deeds and policies, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa warned that the Israeli action meant "everything" was now left "hanging in the air," including US-brokered proximity talks that only started May 9 between the Jewish state and the Palestinians. "This is another message, a very powerful message, that Israel does not want peace, is not ready to enter into peace," Moussa said on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum summit in Doha.
Moussa said he had called a meeting of the Arab League Council for Tuesday to discuss the attack.
Turkey accused Israel of practicing state terrorism and recalled its ambassador. "It should be known that we will not stay silent and unresponsive in the face of this inhuman state terror," Erdogan said in live televised remarks ahead of his departure from Chile for Turkey, cutting short his Latin American tour. "International law has been trampled underfoot," he added. "This attack has clearly shown once again that the Israeli government does not want peace in the region."
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc announced that the Turkish ambassador to Tel Aviv, Oguz Celikkol, had been called back to Ankara and plans for three joint military exercises with Israel scrapped.
Erdogan said that his country had also also called for emergency NATO talks over the Israeli raid. An alliance spokesman said the meeting would take place Tuesday.
Armed Forces Chief Gen. Ilker Basbug cut short a visit to Egypt to return home, Turkish media reported.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who was on his way to Washington from Latin America, was reported to have spoken with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak by telephone.
Ankara summoned Israel's ambassador to the ministry. Ambassador Gabby Levy's residence was pelted with eggs and water bottles, and activists hung a banner on an outside wall with the message "stones will win over tanks".
Earlier about 300 people waving Palestinian flags and wearing black-and-white kaffiyeh headscarves rallied outside the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul. "Down with Zionist, Israeli imperialism," protesters shouted as police backed by armored vehicles and water cannon barred them from moving toward the building.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak slammed the use of "excessive and unjustified force" in the raid, while the Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador to express its condemnation.
Jordan, the only other Arab country along with Egypt to have a peace treaty with Israel, handed the Israeli charge d'affaires a protest note against what Information Minister Nabil Sharif described as a "heinous crime."
Protests swept several Arab capitals with over 2,000 people taking to the street of Amman demanding the closure of the Israeli Embassy while thousands demonstrated nationwide in Lebanon.
In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar Assad and visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri slammed the "heinous crime" and the "flagrant violations for the most basic human rights." The two leaders also warned that Israel's acts "threaten to pull the Middle East into a war whose consequences will not be limited to the region."
In Beirut Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah echoed the warning saying if the international community does not take action quickly "the situation in the region will get worse."
The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned the attack saying it was an act of "state terrorism" in a statement issued by Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiya. "Israel believes it is not accountable in international law for its acts. This has allowed it to use excessive military force against innocent civilians," he said.
Attiya called on the international community to "hunt the Israelis who were behind this crime" and bring them to justice.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani branded the raid as an "act of piracy."
"The crimes that were committed at dawn today ... remind all of us that there is an unjust blockade" in place against Gaza, Sheikh Hamad told the opening session of the World Economic Forum. He called for an end to Israel's crippling blockade of Gaza, which it has maintained since Hamas took power in the impoverished, overcrowded territory in 2007.
Kuwait, which has 16 of its citizens on board the aid flotilla, urged the permanent members of the UN Security Council to press Israel to ensure their safety.
UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan urged UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to conduct an "international investigation into the attack and present a comprehensive report to the United Nations."
Oman said the attack "violates international law."
