OTTAWA, Canada — Three Canadians are being held by Israeli authorities following a botched raid on an aid flotilla that left nine dead, a Canadian official said Tuesday.
"Three Canadians are being detained in Israel," Catherine Loubier, spokeswoman for Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, told AFP.
"As soon as we learned of this, consular officials were sent to Tel Aviv and are now offering (the trio) consular assistance."
Israel on Tuesday deported dozens of activists and held hundreds more while vowing to block other Gaza-bound ships, as world leaders demanded an investigation into Monday's commando raid in international waters and the swift release of the detainees.
Of the 682 people from 42 countries aboard the six ships that were towed to an Israeli port, 45 agreed to be deported immediately and were flown out Monday and Tuesday, Israeli immigration police spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said.
She said more than 120 Arab nationals were issued deportation orders and handed to military police to be taken to the Jordanian border.
The hundreds still detained apparently refused a demand that they sign a document saying they entered Israel illegally even though the ships were seized in international waters.
Forty-eight activists and six soldiers were being treated in hospitals.
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