(CNN) -- Israel began releasing activists detained from a Gaza aid flotilla Tuesday as humanitarian cargo aboard the ships was unloaded and taken into the blockaded Palestinian territory.
Israel's moves came as the Jewish state came under blistering international criticism, especially from Turkey, its closest Muslim ally.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of a "bloody massacre." "We see clear murder taking place, and we see an aggressive country" that's not regretting this, Erdogan said Tuesday in a parliamentary address. "We're sick and tired of your lies. Be honest."
In an hourlong conversation with U.S. President Obama, Erdogan said that "Israel is about to face the danger of losing its only friend in the region that made the highest contribution to peace in the region," the Turkish prime minister's office said in a statement. "The steps that it will take in the coming days will determine its position in the region."
Also Tuesday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak approved the opening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt for humanitarian purposes, state-owned television reported.
The border crossing that links Egypt to Gaza will be kept open for only a few days, Palestinian officials said.
In Cairo, Egypt, demonstrators gathered in front of the upper house of parliament and called on the government to expel the Israeli ambassador.
In Gaza, women and children rallied outside a U.N. office in opposition to the Israelis.
And in Indonesia, about 1,000 protesters from a hard-line Islamic group marched in front of the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. The group's spokesman called Israel "a cruel colonizer."
Meanwhile, three people died in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, Palestinian sources said. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed it launched a strike that it said generated secondary explosions, suggesting that ammunition or explosives were in the area.
Israel imposed a blockade of Gaza in 2007 after the militant Hamas took control of the Palestinian area and Egypt closed off the Rafah crossing. The aid flotilla challenged the blockade.
The IDF said the aid aboard the flotilla's three cargo ships had been transferred into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, a main entry point used by Israel.
In the predawn raid, Israeli soldiers rappelled onto the deck of the ships from a helicopter. The boarding of the ships took place in international waters more than 70 nautical miles (130 kilometers) outside Israeli territorial waters, according to Insani Yardim Vakfi, or IHH, one of the flotilla organizers.
It is not clear how many people died. Israel put the number at nine but did not release the names of those who died. The Free Gaza Movement, one of the groups that organized the six-ship convoy, said the fatalities numbered higher but did not offer an exact number.
Seven Israeli soldiers were wounded in the raid, the IDF said Monday. Turkey was dispatching three planes to bring back 20 wounded citizens.
Israel described the flotilla as a "provocation." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a scheduled meeting with Obama this week to return to Israel to manage the crisis. Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israeli troops had faced a lynch mob.
Israel's minister of public affairs, Yuli Edelstein, told CNN that an IDF soldier was wounded with a gun that was not an IDF gun. "They're definitely not peace activists," he said about those who were aboard the ship.
Yigal Palmor, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Tuesday that Israel regrets the casualties but said "the sole responsibility" for the violent incident lies with activists who have "chosen violence and confrontation."
Israel said Tuesday that about 600 activists in the flotilla were initially taken to Beer Sheva prison in southern Israel but that all of them would be released within 48 hours.
Activists directly involved in violence against Israeli soldiers will be charged accordingly, said an Israeli Foreign Ministry official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Forty-five activists agreed to identify themselves to Israeli authorities and are citizens of the following countries: Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom. They have now either left Israel or are on their way out of the country, an Israeli official said.
Those who remain detained are ones who have refused to identify themselves to Israeli immigration authorities, an Israeli Prison Authority spokesman told CNN. None have been placed under arrest, he said.
The process involved in deporting foreigners is more complicated because it requires the involvement of foreign diplomats, police said.
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The attack sparked protests in several countries and brought condemnation worldwide.
The U.N. Security Council called for a "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent" investigation into Monday's raid by Israel.
"The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza," the 15-member council said.
"The council in this context condemns those acts which resulted in the loss of at least 10 civilians and expresses condolences to the families," it said.
How has the world reacted to the raid?
The ships were carrying more than 10,000 tons of aid and 600 passengers from more than 20 countries, according to the Free Gaza Movement.
About 1,000 people from an Islamic hard-line group rallied peacefully in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Tuesday to protest the Israeli action.
Despite condemnation of the attack, especially from Turkey, the delivery of four Israeli drones to Turkey will not be interrupted, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said Tuesday.
"We expect the remaining Herons to be delivered in June or July," Gonul said.
Some of the first accounts emerged Tuesday from witnesses who were aboard several boats stormed by Israeli forces.
Raid sparks demonstrations around the world
Hanin Zoabi, a member of the Israeli parliament, was on board the Miva Marmara, the ship that was the scene of the confrontation between activists and Israeli soldiers. The Israeli Navy fired on the ships five minutes before commandos descended from ropes that dangled from helicopters, Zoabi said during a news conference in Nazareth, Israel. She said passengers on board the ship were unarmed.
"It was an absolute planned shock and awe aggression," said Norman Paech, a former German lawmaker, in Berlin. "They came from the helicopters down from the top and started shooting around them."
But an Israeli naval commander who boarded the boat described a different scene. "At the moment I saw people holding knives who were approaching me and attempting to stab me, I took out my weapon and shot one bullet," said the man, who did not want to be identified publicly. "A great amount of people threw me down to the main deck, to the lower deck. As I was thrown down, a group of another 10 people jumped on me, stabbed me with a knife in my stomach."
Q&A: Aid and Israel's Gaza blockade
Israel has said its forces found several weapons among the passengers on the Miva Marmara. Israel also has said that its forces started shooting only after passengers on the Miva Marmara assaulted them.
Zoabi said the military operation lasted about an hour and that she saw five bodies in that time.
Israel said the goods that the convoy was carrying were being sent to their intended destination in Gaza. Palestinian officials confirmed that five trucks loaded with wheelchairs had been allowed passage into Gaza.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States was open to an investigation that would include international participation.
Why the raid will cause headaches for the United States
"The situation in Gaza is unsustainable and unacceptable," Clinton told reporters in a joint news conference with Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Baconschi. "Israel's legitimate security needs must be met, just as the Palestinians' legitimate needs for sustained humanitarian assistance and regular access for reconstruction materials must also be assured."
But the ultimate solution to the conflict, she said, must be based on a two-state solution negotiated between the parties.
