PM cancels White House meeting due to Gaza flotilla events

VIDEO - Israel's prime minister has called off a planned visit to the White House to deal with a crisis over Monday morning's naval raid on the Gaza aid flotilla, which killed 15 pro-Palestinian activists.

Netanyahu, who is in Canada, was set to travel to Washington to meet with President Barack Obama on Tuesday. But his office says he decided to return home early after Monday's commando raid.

From Toronto, Netanyahu spoke by telephone with top Israeli officials and expressed his "full backing" for the military following the Navy's raid on ships carrying pro-Palestinians activists and supplies for the residents of the Hamas-ruled territory.

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The PM is set to meet his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper to update him on the developments, and then head back to Israel.

The United Nations Security Council will meet on Monday afternoon for an emergency session to discuss Israel's storming of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Security Council diplomats told Reuters.

The United States said on Monday it deeply regretted the deaths and injuries caused during the raid.

"The United States deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained, and is currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy," said White House spokesman William Burton.

The European Union called for a comprehensive enquiry into deaths and urged Israel to allow the free flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Roni Rachmani in Vancouver, AP and Reuters contributed to the report