An Israeli military investigation has concluded that flawed intelligence and poor planning led to the lethal interception of a flotilla of ships attempting
to break the blockade of Gaza.
The 150-page report does not blame the commandos which opened fire, killing nine Turkish activists, after being confronted by pro-Palestinian
demonstrators during the raid.
Declassified sections of the report were released this week after the full document was delivered to the Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lieutenant
General Gabi Ashkenazi.
The investigation, led by Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel’s National Security Council, pointed to flaws in intelligence gathering ahead of the operation and a lack of coordination between military and intelligence bodies and said preparations for the takeover of the ships had been inadequate.
It criticised the “battle guidelines” issued to the naval commandos which boarded the Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara,/i>, on which the activists were killed, the reports said.
The inquiry said the navy had failed sufficiently to anticipate the possibility that activists on board the
ships could resist a takeover.
Israel insists that a core of Islamic militants on the Mavi Marmara planned a violent confrontation and were armed with knives and staves.
It says the activists were killed by commandos in self-defence. The flotilla’s organisers dispute this, saying the Israeli military used unnecessary and disproportionate force against a peaceful mission.
The attack on the flotilla six weeks ago caused a wave of international condemnation and a serious breach of diplomatic relations between Israel
and its regional ally, Turkey.
It also drew global attention to Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which has been strictly enforced for three years and has resulted in humanitarian hardship and the crippling of the territory’s economy. Israel has since agreed to ease the blockade.
The remit of the Eiland inquiry was restricted to the military and intelligence planning of the operation.
Its report will be submitted to a broader inquiry set up by the Israeli government, the Turkel commission, which is not expected to reach its
conclusions for months.
The Eiland report has come as the Israeli navy is preparing for the possibility of a confrontation with a Libyan aid ship that is heading for Gaza this week.
Diplomatic efforts are under way to divert the ship to the Egyptian port of El-Arish, but the ship’s captain has insisted that he is planning to dock in Gaza. —