Israel has attacked Gaza Flotilla (dead and wounded)

[Peter Presland]

From The Australian:

ISRAEL has announced that "an independent public commission", including two foreign observers, will investigate its naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which nine Turkish activists were killed.

Israel, which had rejected calls for an international probe into the May 31 incident, said retired Israeli supreme court judge Yaakov Tirkel would chair the commission.

In an apparent bid to boost the credibility of the probe, Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner David Trimble and Ken Watkin, a former judge advocate general of the Canadian armed forces, were named as observers.

“In light of the exceptional circumstances of the incident, it was decided to appoint two foreign experts who will serve as observers,” said a late-night statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But Mr Trimble and Mr Watkin “will not have the right to vote in relation to the proceedings and conclusions of the commission,” the statement added.

And the two could also be denied access to documents or information if it was “almost certain to cause substantial harm to national security or to the state's foreign relations”.

Earlier, Mr Netanyahu told senior members of his right-wing Likud party that the composition and mandate of the commission was being coordinated with the United States.

Government ministers at the Likud meeting said the Israeli leader had spoken by telephone with US President Barack Obama late on Saturday and updated him on the commission.

The US welcomed the announcement as “an important step forward,” but said it expected the investigation to be carried out promptly.

“While Israel should be afforded the time to complete its process, we expect Israel's commission and military investigation will be carried out promptly,” said a statement by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

“We also expect that, upon completion, its findings will be presented publicly and will be presented to the international community.”

The UN Security Council had called for an “impartial” investigation into the incident, stopping short of calls by Turkey and other countries for an independent, international investigation.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had said that Israel should accept an international inquiry if it wanted to restore Israeli-Turkish ties

The announcement came as Israel faced mounting pressure to end its blockade of the Gaza Strip in the wake of the botched commando raid on the aid flotilla.

Mr Netanyahu said yesterday he had been looking at how to meet Gaza's humanitarian needs while keeping weapons out of the Hamas-run coastal strip before the latest crisis.

“Before the flotilla set sail for Gaza, we discussed, in various forums, the continuation of our policy toward the Gaza Strip,” Mr Netanyahu said.

He said he had held talks on the issue with Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair, who represents the UN, the US, the European Union and Russia.

In a statement, Mr Blair welcomed Mr Netanyahu's latest comments, saying they made a clear distinction between Israel's security concerns and the need to let Gazans live a normal life.

The Israeli statement said the commission would examine Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and its legality under international law and the “actions taken by Israel to enforce the naval blockade in the incident of May 31, 2010 with the rules of international law”.

It would also examine “the actions taken by the organisers of the flotilla and its participants, as well as their identity”.

Mr Netanyahu planned to seek the approval of his cabinet later today for the proposed commission.

Also al Jazeeera

David Trimble (Baron and HM Privy Councillor for services rendered), knows a thing or two about state sponsored assassinations - from the State's perspective naturally - too. Having been at the sharp end of Northern Ireland Unionist (ie British State Establishment) politics throughout the infamous shoot to kill and Security Forces collusion/sponsorship of 'Loyalist' assasinations periods.

As for Ken Watkin. Don't know much about him except that he is a retired Brigadier Genral in the Canadian armed forces.

Actually - all that lends far more credibility to the thing than it warrants - a total bloody whitewash fits the proposal rather better.