JERUSALEM: Israel on Sunday dismissed moves by the UN Human Rights Council to open its own probe into a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, saying the panel was biased.
"This panel of experts is not intending to look for the truth but to satisfy the non-democratic countries which control the Human Rights Council, who have an automatic anti-Israeli majority," a senior Israeli official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
His remarks came two days after the UN body named a panel of experts to investigate whether the commando operation, in which nine Turkish activists were shot dead, breached international law.
Although Israel has yet to respond officially to the council’s request for cooperation, the government was widely expected to refuse to have anything to do with it.
Israel has consistently rejected calls for an international independent investigation into the raid and instead launched two internal inquiries.
Troops involved in the raid say they only resorted to lethal force after being attacked when they rappelled from helicopters onto the deck of the Turkish passenger ferry Mavi Marmara in international waters.
But the activists on board say the naval commandos opened fire as soon as they boarded.
The 47-member Human Rights Council condemned the raid as an "outrageous attack" during an emergency session just days after the operation and decided to set up a commission of inquiry.
The panel is due to present its findings in mid-September.
