ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected criticism of a deadly raid against a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza earlier this week, saying the blockade of the Palestinian territory is needed to prevent missile attacks against Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, accompanied by 20 survivors of the Holocaust and their grandchildren, joined thousands of people today in an emotional memorial for the victims of the Nazis at the biggest World War II death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau.