The Turkish foreign minister has told the UN Security Council that Israel should be held accountable for its deadly attack on the flotilla carrying humanitarian assistance for Gaza.

Ahmet Davutoglu said that Israel has "lost all legitimacy" because of the onslaught that left at least 20 peace activists dead and many others wounded. Most of those killed in the assault were from Turkey.

"A nation-state that follows this path has lost its legitimacy as a respectful member of the international community," he said on Monday during an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council called to discuss the act of aggression.

In the incident, the Israeli navy attacked the Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea early on Monday, killing at least 20 people on board the six ships, mostly Turkish nationals, and injuring about 50 others.

The flotilla was carrying 10,000 tons of relief supplies, including food and construction material, for the besieged people of Gaza.

Davutoglu also urged the United Nations Security Council to strongly respond to the Israeli attack and called for an urgent inquiry into the deadly attack.

The Turkish foreign minister said that Israeli leaders must be brought to justice over the crime because "Israel’s action is a grave breach of international law."

"This is tantamount to banditry and piracy," he said, adding, "It is murder conducted by a state."

"Israel has committed a serious crime, in total disregard of all the values that we have vowed to uphold since the establishment of the United Nations system," Davutoglu stated.

The UN Security Council started the emergency session on Monday after Turkey called for a meeting on the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla.

(Press TV)