Following the Israel Navy's interception of the Free Gaza Movement's Al-Karama ship which sought to break the naval blockade surrounding the Gaza Strip, Navy soldiers hand out food and water to the passengers aboard the ship. Photo: wiki commons.

Ynet – “Damnit, I was hit by a live bullet.”

In the commotion around him, A. failed to notice the flash of the muzzle. Five or six people were standing above him, beating him up with anything they could get their hands on. It took him a few seconds to understand where the gaping hole in his stomach came from.

A few minutes earlier, safely hunched inside the IDF chopper transporting him and his comrades above the Mediterranean’s dark waters, A. was convinced that he was heading to yet another routine operation: A civilian vessel carrying some peace activists. Maybe he’ll encounter a few curses or some pushing and shoving; not something that a few bullets from his paintball gun won’t resolve.

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