Probes split over Israel’s attack on aid flotilla

AN Israeli probe ruled yesterday that a deadly May 2010 raid on a flotilla of Gaza-bound aid ships, which killed nine Turkish activists and soured ties with Ankara, did not violate international law.

However, a Turkish probe into the incident, which also released its preliminary findings yesterday, ruled that Israeli troops used “disproportionate” force in boarding the aid ships to prevent them from reaching Gaza.

The bloody assault earned the Jewish state international censure, prompting Israeli lawmakers to appoint a commission headed by former judge Yaakov Tirkel to examine the legality of the military operation as well as Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.