UN: Israel flotilla attack was brutal and unlawful
The United Nations has condemned Israel’s military intervention to stop a convoy that was trying to break the country’s blockade of Gaza.
A United Nations panel of experts said that the attack by Israeli commandos on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May was unlawful and resulted in violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed, including eight Turks and one Turkish American, when Israeli soldiers boarded the flotilla.
The attack prompted widespread international outrage.
The three experts, nominated by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the Israeli attack in which troops boarded boats attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, said Israel had used disproportionate force and “totally unnecessary and incredible violence” in intercepting the boats.
In their report the experts, including judges from Britain and Trinidad and a Malaysian human rights campaigner, said that the Israeli military’s actions: “betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality. Such conduct cannot be justified or condoned on security or any other grounds.”
Such conduct cannot be justified or condoned on security or any other grounds. UN Report
The panel accepted Israel had a right to security and agreed that the firing of rockets into Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza also constituted violations of humanitarian law. But it said the Gaza blockade itself constituted collective punishment of civilians and so was itself also unlawful.
The UN panel was not allowed to enter Israel as part of its investigations and said Israel had refused to cooperate with its mission. It called on the Israeli authorities to identify those involved in the violence and prosecute them.
‘Completely unhelpful’
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman dismissed the report. “These people from Geneva are basing their claims on nothing but partial testimony from militants who were on board,” Yigal Palmor said.
“This report of theirs is completely superfluous, completely unhelpful, it only shows the bias and lopsided nature of the body that generated it.”
Israel is also currently conducting its own investigation into the boarding of the flotilla headed by retired Supreme Court justice Jacob Turkel.
This report of theirs is completely superfluous, completely unhelpful. Yigal Palmor, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman
Asked if the inquest was nearing completion, he said: “Yes, certainly. We have by now gathered most of the testimony … If there will be more witnesses testifying, they will be witnesses of lesser importance, and not a large number of them remain.”
Among those asked to appear before the commission is Mahmut Tural who was captain of the converted cruise ship Mavi Marmara, where the activists were killed.
Mr Turkel said a response from Tural had yet to be received. The Turkel Committee includes two foreign observers, including Northern Ireland’s former first minister David Trimble, but has been criticised by the Turkish government for its limited scope.
The Turks have demanded an apology and compensation from Israel, which has refused, saying its navy acted in self-defence.
Meantime, the UN report into the incident will be submitted to the UN’s rights council on 27 September.