IDF Commandos dropped into ambush; some jumped overboard to escape lynch mob

Naval commandos rappelling to the deck of the Mavi Marmara were unprepared for the ferocity of the resistance that awaited them. Each was set on by many waiting fighters armed with knives, swords, axes, and metal rods. Videos taken by those on the ship show soldiers slammed with rods and stabbed in the back by daggers.

Testimony by wounded soldiers to Channel Two reporter Nir Dvori indicates that several of the first commandos to arrive were stripped of their weapons and protective vests and nearly lynched. One was thrown to the lower deck of the ship in a manner reminiscent of the Ramallah lynch, in which two reserve soldiers were torn limb from limb by a crowd of frenzied Palestinians. To escape the mob, several commandos jumped into the sea and had to be rescued.

The IDF badly underestimated the ferocity of the resistance nor prepared the commandos for the mob scene in which they landed. It was an ambush.

Ron Ben-Yishai, military correspondent for Yediot Aharonot embedded with Israeli Navy Flotilla 13, recounts what went wrong.

"The first rope that soldiers used in order to descend down to the ship was wrested away by activists, most of them Turks, and tied to an antenna with the hopes of bringing the chopper down. However, Flotilla 13 fighters decided to carry on. Navy commandos slid down to the vessel one by one, yet then the unexpected occurred: The passengers that awaited them on the deck pulled out bats, clubs, and slingshots with glass marbles, assaulting each soldier as he disembarked. The fighters were nabbed one by one and were beaten up badly, yet they attempted to fight back."

"However, to their misfortune, they were only equipped with paintball rifles used to disperse minor protests," which "obviously made no impression on the activists, who kept on beating the troops up and even attempted to wrest away their weapons. One soldier who came to the aid of a comrade was captured by the rioters and sustained severe blows. The commandos were equipped with handguns but were told they should only use them in the face of life-threatening situations. When they came down from the chopper, they kept on shouting to each other “don’t shoot, don’t shoot,” even though they sustained numerous blows."

"The forces hurled stun grenades, yet the rioters on the top deck, whose number swelled up to 30 by that time, kept on beating up about 30 commandos who kept gliding their way one by one from the helicopter. At one point, the attackers nabbed one commando, wrested away his handgun, and threw him down from the top deck to the lower deck, 30 feet below. The soldier sustained a serious head wound and lost his consciousness."

"Only after this injury did Flotilla 13 troops ask for permission to use live fire. The commander approved it: You can go ahead and fire. The soldiers pulled out their handguns and started shooting at the rioters’ legs, a move that ultimately neutralized them. Meanwhile, the rioters started to fire back at the commandos. “I saw the tip of a rifle sticking out of the stairwell,” one commando said. “He fired at us and we fired back. We didn’t see if we hit him. We looked for him later but couldn’t find him.” Two soldiers sustained gunshot wounds to their knee and stomach after rioters apparently fired at them using guns wrested away from troops."

Ben-Yishai concludes that "the error in planning the operation was the estimate that passengers were indeed political activists and members of humanitarian groups who seek a political provocation, but would not resort to brutal violence. The soldiers thought they will encounter Bilin-style violence; instead, they got Bangkok. The forces that disembarked from the helicopters were few; just dozens of troops – not enough to contend with the large group awaiting them." The second error, ben-Yishai said, was that "commanders did not address seriously enough the fact that a group of men were expecting the soldiers on the top deck. Had they addressed this more seriously, they may have hurled tear-gas grenades and smoke grenades from the helicopter to create a screen that would have enabled them to carry out their mission, without the fighters falling right into the hands of the rioters, who severely assaulted them.

After the initial shock, and after three commandos were seriously wounded, the orders were changed to permit live fire and reinforcements were summoned.