Eight months after Israeli commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian activists on board a Gaza-bound Turkish ship, Israel's political and military leaders were bracing Sunday for the findings of a probe into the incident, dpa reported.
The public commission of inquiry headed by retired Israeli supreme court judge Jacob Turkel is scheduled to submit its findings to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 1100 GMT.
Netanyahu appointed the commission, which includes two foreign observers - Northern Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lord David Trimble and Canadian former judge advocate general Kenneth W. Watkin - in June, two weeks after the Israel Navy overpowered the Turkish Mavi Marmara in international waters off the coast of Gaza.
The Israeli naval commandos shot dead eight Turks and an American of Turkish descent.
The activists accused the Israelis of indiscriminately opening fire with no justified reason as soon as they repelled onto the ship from helicopters.
Israel accused a group of several dozen activists among the hundreds on board of having used sticks and knives against the soldiers, who felt their lives were in danger and were being "lynched."
The Turkel commission Sunday is publishing the first part of its report, which examines whether the Israel Navy violated international law when it enforced Israel's blockade of Gaza in the May 31 incident.
It also examines whether the naval blockade of Gaza is legal, and the identity and conduct of the activists on board the flotilla.
A United Nations Human Rights Council fact-finding mission ruled in September that Israel used "totally unnecessary violence" during its interception of the Gaza-bound flotilla, and that its conduct toward the passengers on board was "disproportionate and excessive."
Turkey has said the findings of the Israeli commission would be "irrelevant" to it. Relations between the former allies have hit rock bottom since the deadly incident.
One member of the Israeli panel, the internationally renowned Israeli jurist Shabtai Rosenne, died in September at the age of 92.