A UN report on the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound ship that killed nine Turks last year says that Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip was “legal and appropriate” but that Israel used “unreasonable force,” the New York Times reported.
The report was expected to be released on Friday but the New York Times obtained a copy and posted it on its website.
It said Israeli commandos faced "organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers" in the incident on the Mavi Marmara ship last year. They were therefore required to use force for their own protection.
But said the amount of force used by the Israelis on board was "excessive and unreasonable."
Israel called its Gaza blockade a precaution against arms reaching Hamas and other Palestinian groups by sea.
“Israel faces a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza,” the report says in its opening paragraphs. “The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law.
The report says the flotilla “acted recklessly in attempting to breach the naval blockade.” It added that while a majority of the hundreds of people aboard the six vessels had no violent intention, that could not be said of the I.H.H. Humanitarian Relief Foundation, the Turkish group that primarily organized the flotilla. It said, “There exist serious questions about the conduct, true nature and objectives of the flotilla organizers, particularly I.H.H.”
The 105-page report was prepared by a four-man UN panel headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer. He was aided by Alvaro Uribe, a former president of Colombia, along with one representative from Israel and another from Turkey.
The release of the report was delayed several times to allow for reconciliation talks between Israel and Turkey, whose relations were badly affected by the incident on May 31 last year.
But Israel has so far refused to apologize for the Mavi Marmara incident.