Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
The SpaceX mission
A privately owned unmanned rocket blasts off on a mission to be the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. Slideshow
Israel weighed all options in Gaza boat raid: defense minister
1 of 3. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak (R) sits before testifying at a state-appointed inquiry into the Israeli naval raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, in Jerusalem, August 10, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Bernat Armangue/Pool
JERUSALEM |
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel exhausted all other options before carrying out its deadly raid on a Turkish aid flotilla enroute to the blockaded Gaza Strip, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told a government-appointed inquiry on Tuesday.
Barak also said he was told by Israel's military chief that the operation "won't be simple, but we can get it done".
Nine Turks were shot dead when Israeli commandos stormed the lead ship on May 31. Israel says its commandos used live fire only after being attacked with clubs, knives and gunfire by activists who it says were clearly prepared for violence.
The raid sparked a world outcry and almost ruptured Israel's relations with once-close Muslim ally Turkey.
It also pushed Israel to ease restrictions of its Gaza blockade, which is aimed at preventing the territory's rulers Hamas from increasing their arms arsenal but also aggravates the privations of 1.5 million mostly aid-dependent Palestinians.
Testifying before the panel a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Barak said the decision to stop the 6-ship convoy came after "diplomatic efforts didn't bear fruit", and after "weighing all the possibilities and taking into account the different risks".
Barak, himself a former commando and top general, said the military's intelligence had warned of a potential "collision and friction" during the raid, but not at the level encountered.
"There is never perfect intelligence before a mission," he said. Israel's military chief, Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, will give testimony on Wednesday.
The United Nations has formed its own committee to look into the raid. It is due to meet for the first time later on Tuesday.
(Writing by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Charles Dick)
- Tweet this
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
In all democratic societies that observe the rule of law, any person alleged guilty of a criminal offense must be interrogated to determine his guilt or innocence. That is a basis tenet of justice, particularly so when the offense in UNLAWFUL KILLING or homicide.
In this case, nine passengers on a vessel carrying supplies to Gaza were attacked and killed by heavily armed Israeli troops with no justification whatsoever. The men killed were unarmed and the vessel carried no arms.
Netanyahu’s refusal to allow interrogation of those who carried out the killings is an admission of guilt of the murder of nine civilians on the high seas.
Those responsible should be extradited to the ICC in the Hague for trial.
—aipacisbadfordemocracy
And so it proved to be.
Another bunch of IDF killers walk away from a crime without so much as a wrist slap.
I’ve come to expect the worst type of behaviour from Israel. But America? America should know better by now.
Follow Reuters