Israeli Probe Finds Turkish Ship Takeover Was Legal

JERUSALEM – An Israeli probe into its country's raid on an aid ship bound for Gaza last May has found that Israeli soldiers acted in self-defense. Nine Turkish citizens, one of them a dual American citizen, were killed in fighting aboard the ship, the Mavi Marmara.

The Israeli investigation also found that Israel's three-year blockade of Gaza, which the ship was trying to broach, does not violate international law.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Ankara on Sunday that the Israeli report had "no value or credibility." Turkey had previously issued its own report that placed the blame squarely on Israel. Israel has given the United Nations its report, from a panel called the Turkel Commission, headed by former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel. The UN will issue its own opinion on the matter.

The Mavi Marmara was one of six ships that tried to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza on May 31. Israel had warned the ships that they would not be allowed to land in Gaza and urged them to land in an Israeli port, unload the cargo there and let Israel transfer it to Gaza after security checks, an offer the captains of the flotilla refused.

The other ships surrendered peacefully, but when Israeli commandos boarded the Marmara, they say they were met with violence. The Israeli soldiers testified that they felt their lives were in danger and they opened fire on the demonstrators, leaving nine people dead. The incident sparked a crisis in the relationship between Israel and Turkey, which remains tense.

The Turkel Commission of several Israeli lawyers and diplomats also included Nobel Peace prize winner Lord David Trimble from Ireland and Kenneth Watkin, the former Judge Advocate General of the Canadian army, as international observers.

The commission invited activists who had been on the ship to testify, although they declined to do so. It interviewed all of the Israeli soldiers and commanders involved.

Israeli Arab Knesset member Haneen Zoabi, who was on the ship, charged that the commission was not given all of the information.

"The report is based entirely on testimony given by Israeli political and military officials who took the decision to attack the ship and to abduct and kill the activists," she said in a statement. "The Commission was not granted the power to investigate the detailed circumstances in which nine were killed, which was the primary motivation behind the Turkish and international demand for the establishment of a commission of inquiry. As a result, the Commission lacks any value as a commission of inquiry into the killings and hijacking of the Mavi Marmara."

Zoabi said the judges and the international observers were biased toward Israel.

The commission also found that Israel's naval blockade of Gaza does not violate international law, although it did urge Israel to "examine of the medical needs of the people of Gaza in order to find ways to improve the current situation." It also urged Israel to try to find ways to focus its sanctions against Hamas militants and not the 1.5 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Israel imposed the blockade after the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006, who is still believed to be held in Gaza, and expanded it after Hamas seized sole control of Gaza in 2007.

Israeli human rights group Gisha also criticized the Turkel Commission's conclusions.

"No commission of inquiry can authorize the collective punishment of a civilian population by restricting its movement and access, as Israel did in its closure of Gaza," Executive Director Sari Bashi told AOL News. "A primary goal of the restrictions, as declared by Israel, was to paralyze the economy in Gaza and prevent its residents from leading normal lives."

Although some of the restrictions have been lifted, Israel does not allow most building materials to enter Gaza. There has been little reconstruction since Israel's large scale incursion into Gaza two years ago.

The Turkel Commission's 300-page report is only the first installment. The report's second part, to be submitted in another few months, will discuss how Israel investigates suspected violations of international law. It will also deal with how the Israeli government made decisions ahead of the raid.