Israelis fired 308 bullets at activists

Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli commandos fired 308 live bullets aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship in May to repel passengers who attacked them with lethal weapons including a snatched Uzi machine pistol, Israel's top general said Sunday.

In a sometimes testy second round of testimony before a state-appointed inquest, Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi insisted the navy's killing of nine pro-Palestinian Turks on the converted cruise ship Mavi Marmara had been unavoidable.

Marine commandos were equipped with riot-dispersal gear but quickly switched to live fire to confront armed passengers because "if they had not done this, there would have been more casualties," Ashkenazi told the six-member Turkel Commission.

Ashkenazi said 308 live rounds were fired by the troops.