Six civilian ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla were raided by Israel on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine of the flotilla passengers were killed during the raid, with 30 wounded (including one who later died of his wounds). Ten Israeli soldiers were wounded, one seriously. The exact sequence of events is contested, in part due to the IDF's confiscation of the passengers' photographic evidence. The flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), was carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, intending to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Navy warned the flotilla via radio to stop approaching the naval blockade and to change course to the port of Ashdod. This request was denied and on 31 May 2010, Israeli Shayetet 13 naval commandos boarded the ships in international waters from speedboats and helicopters. Aboard the Turkish ship MV Mavi Marmara, the Israeli Navy faced resistance from about 40 of the 590 passengers, including IHH activists who were said to be armed with iron bars and knives. During the struggle, nine activists were killed, including eight Turkish nationals and one Turkish American, and many were wounded. On 23 May 2014, a tenth member of the flotilla died in hospital after being in a coma for four years. Ten of the commandos were also wounded, one of them seriously.
According to a United Nations Human Rights Council report, all activist deaths were caused by gunshots, and "the circumstances of the killing of at least six of the passengers were in a manner consistent with an extra-legal, arbitrary and summary execution." The five other ships in the flotilla employed passive resistance, which was suppressed without major incident. According to the UNHRC report, several of the passengers were injured and the leg of one was fractured. The ships were towed to Israel. Some passengers were deported immediately, while about 600 were detained after they refused to sign deportation orders; a few of them were slated for prosecution. After international criticism, all of the detained activists were also deported. The raid drew widespread condemnation internationally, resulted in a deterioration of Israel–Turkey relations, and Israel subsequently eased its blockade on the Gaza Strip.
There were several probes into the incident. A UNHRC report in September 2010 deemed the raid illegal and stated that Israel's actions were "disproportionate" and "betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality", with evidence of "wilful killing". United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a parallel probe in August 2010 by a four-member panel headed by Geoffrey Palmer. The Palmer report was published in September 2011 and also concluded that the raid was illegal. The report stated that the degree of force used against the Mavi Marmara was "excessive and unreasonable", and that the way Israel treated detained crew members violated international human rights law. In response to the raid, Israel offered Turkey $20 million in compensation, which was discussed in March 2013, with an agreement finalized in June 2016.
History
The operation, code named Operation Sea Breeze or Operation Sky Winds was an attempt to block the Free Gaza Movement's ninth attempt to break the naval blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip. Israel proposed inspecting the cargo at the Port of Ashdod and then delivering non-blockaded goods through land crossings, but this proposal was turned down. Israeli forces then raided and seized the Gaza-bound ships in international waters of the Mediterranean.
The raid ended with nine activists killed, and dozens injured. A UNHRC fact-finding mission described six of the nine passengers' deaths as "summary execution" by the Israeli commandos. A BBC documentary concluded that Israeli forces had faced a violent premeditated attack by a group of hardcore IHH activists, who intended to orchestrate a political act to put pressure on Israel. The programme was criticised as "biased" by critics of Israel and the PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) questioned why the IDF boarded the ship at night if it had peaceful intention. Seven Israeli commandos were injured in the skirmish. After seizing control of the ships, Israeli forces towed them to Ashdod and detained the passengers.
The raid prompted widespread international reactions and demonstrations around the world. The United Nations Security Council condemned "those acts resulting in civilian deaths", demanded an impartial investigation of the raid, and called for the immediate release of civilians held by Israel. Israel released all passengers of the flotilla by 6 June 2010. The incident threatened the already deteriorating relations between Turkey and Israel. Turkish president Abdullah Gül described the raid as an attack on Turkey for the first time since World War I.
Israel initially rejected calls from the United Nations and world governments for an international investigation into its raid on the Gaza aid flotilla, but later agreed to cooperate with an investigation conducted by the United Nations. Israel formed the Turkel Committee to investigate the raid. The committee, headed by retired Supreme Court of Israel judge Jacob Turkel, included two international observers.
In August 2010, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that the U.N. would conduct an investigation of the incident. A separate investigation was conducted by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The findings of this committee, published on 22 September 2010, called the Israeli operation "disproportionate" and condemned its "unacceptable level of brutality". The UN Human Rights Council had also condemned the raid in June, before its investigation. Another resolution backing the report was passed despite American opposition and EU abstention.
Israel accused the UNHRC of a biased, politicized and extremist approach. Benjamin Netanyahu described the actions of the soldiers as a clear case of self-defense. The Israeli Supreme Court, which rejected several local legal suits against the flotilla raid, wrote in its verdict, "the soldiers were forced to respond in order to defend their lives."
Five shipments had been allowed through prior to the 2008–09 Gaza War, but all shipments following the war were blocked by Israel. This flotilla was the largest to date. An Islamic aid group from Turkey, the İHH (İnsani Yardım Vakfı) (Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief) sponsored a large passenger ship and two cargo ships.
On 22 March 2013 Netanyahu apologised for the incident in a 30-minute telephone call with Erdoğan, stating that the results were unintended; the Turkish prime minister accepted the apology and agreed to enter into discussions to resolve the compensation issue. Following the telephone apology, Israel's Channel 10 television channel reported that compensation talks had commenced; however, a disparity became immediately apparent, as Turkey sought $1 million for each of the flotilla deaths, while Israel's response was $100,000.
As of 27 March 2013, an agreement was made between the two nations in regard to three points:
- Compensation will only be paid to the family members of the people killed aboard the Mavi Marmara;
- Confirmation of a signed commitment from Turkey, whereby Turkey will be unable to sue Israel over the incident;
- The Turkish government will return the monetary compensation to Israel in the event that civilian lawsuits are ever filed by Turkish citizens.
A meeting was also planned for the discussion of future relations between Turkey and Israel.
One of the participants of the Gaza flotilla, Sinan Albayrak, told the Turkish newspaper Akşam in response to the Israeli apology, "[w]hat is the importance of the apology? 'We killed nine people and are sorry' – of course it sounds ridiculous. I say this is what the state should have done. If [Turkey] only had prevented this at the start. But we asked for it. We went there ourselves." According to Hürriyet Daily News' Semih Idiz, some Turkish citizens are even suggesting that those involved with the Mavi Marmara incident should also bring charges against the Turkish state for playing a prominent role in supporting the Mavi Marmara's mission and for failing to prevent the death of nine Turks on the ship.
The flotilla
The Gaza Freedom Flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), was carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, with the intention of breaking the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Three of the flotilla ships carried only passengers and their personal belongings. Whereas in previous voyages, Free Gaza vessels carried 140 passengers in total, in this flotilla, over 600 activists were on board the Mavi Marmara alone.
Three other ships carried cargo: 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid, with an estimated value of $20 million.
For the initial leg of the voyage, six of the eight ships set out on 30 May 2010 from international waters off the coast of Cyprus; the remaining two were delayed by mechanical problems. The ship was not allowed to sail in Cypriot government controlled territorial waters and in the end departed from the illegal Port of Famagusta, in occupied Northern Cyprus.
Pre-raid sabotage rumors
The IDF or the Mossad may have sabotaged three of the ships before the raid. According to the National Post, Israeli deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai hinted that Israel had exhausted covert means of stalling the vessels. He said: "Everything was considered. I don't want to elaborate beyond that, because the fact is there were not up to 10, or however many ships were [originally] planned." A senior IDF officer hinted to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that some of the vessels had been tampered with to halt them far from the Gaza or Israeli coast.
According to UPI press coverage, the officer alluded to "grey operations" against the flotilla and said that no such action had been taken against the Mavi Marmara out of fear that the vessel might be stranded in the middle of the sea, endangering the people on board. Israel was accused of sabotaging activist ships in the past but no evidence has been found to back up these claims.
Three ships – the Rachel Corrie, the Challenger I and the Challenger II – suffered damage or malfunction. While the Challenger I was able to continue, the Challenger II had to turn back halfway through the journey and Rachel Corrie docked for repairs in Malta. Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement said that electric wires may have been tampered with.
Ships
The ships of the Gaza flotilla raid comprised three passenger ships and three cargo ships:
- Challenger 1 (small yacht), United States, Free Gaza Movement
- MS Eleftheri Mesogios (Free Mediterranean) or Sofia (cargo boat), Greece Greek Ship to Gaza
- Sfendoni (small passenger boat), Greece Greek Ship to Gaza and European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza
- MV Mavi Marmara (passenger ship), Comoros, İHH
- Gazze, Turkey, İHH
- Defne Y, Kiribati, İHH
Two other Free Gaza Movement ships had mechanical problems: Challenger 2 (USA flagged) had to turn back halfway through the voyage and MV Rachel Corrie (Cambodia flagged) docked in Malta for repairs and continued separately.
Raid
A few minutes after 9 pm, the Sa'ar 5-class corvettes INS Lahav and INS Hanit, and the Sa'ar 4-class missile boat INS Nitzachon left Haifa naval base to intercept the flotilla. The three warships had speedboats, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, and 71 Shayetet 13 commandos on board. The Israeli Navy made initial contact with the flotilla at 11 p.m. (2000 UTC) on 30 May, about 120 miles (190 km) northwest of Gaza, 80 miles (130 km) off the coast of southern Lebanon, in international waters, ordering the ships to follow them to port or otherwise be boarded.
The Shayetet 13 commandos who participated in the operation underwent a month of training prior to the operation, including dummy takeovers of a ship at sea with 50 soldiers performing the role of activists. Ron Ben-Yishai, a veteran Israeli correspondent aboard the Israeli missile boat INS Nitzachon, reported that the assessment was that the passengers would show "light resistance and possibly minor violence". The soldiers were armed with paintball guns, stun grenades, tasers, and pistols as sidearms, which were attached to their backs.
According to Israel, the soldiers had orders to confront protesters and peacefully convince them to give up, and if not successful, to use non-lethal force to commandeer the ship. They were instructed to use their sidearms only in an emergency when their lives were at risk.
The Israeli Navy radioed Tural Mahmut, the captain of the Mavi Marmara, sending him this message: "Mavi Marmara, you are approaching an area of hostilities, which is under a naval blockade. The Gaza coastal area and Gaza Harbour are closed to all maritime traffic. The Israeli government supports delivery of humanitarian supplies to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and invites you to enter Ashdod port. Delivery of supplies will be in accordance with the authorities' regulations and through the formal land crossing to Gaza and under your observation, after which you can return to your home ports aboard the vessels on which you arrived." The reply was: "Negative, negative. Our destination is Gaza." Shortly after, three Israeli warships began shadowing the flotilla. Two warships flanked the flotilla on either side, but at a distance. An Israeli aircraft also flew overhead.
Five days after the raid, IDF released an audio recording purporting to be of a radio exchange between the Israeli Navy and the flotilla. After Israeli warnings that the ships were approaching a blockade, voices responded "Go back to Auschwitz!" and "Don't forget 9/11". Denis Healey, the captain of Challenger I, and activist Huwaida Arraf who was on the bridge of the ship, disputed the authenticity of the recording. Israel conceded that it was impossible to trace who made the comments, or from which ship because they were made on an open channel. An Israeli journalist who was on board an IDF ship corborated the IDF account.
Hours before the raid, the head of the İHH, Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım, declared, "We're going to defeat the Israeli commandos – we're declaring it now. If you bring your soldiers here, we will throw you off the ship and you'll be humiliated in front of the whole world." Later, according to the crew, a group of about 40 İHH activists took over the ship.