Mistakes were made at a “relatively senior” level during the planning and execution of Israel’s raid on a Gaza-bound aid boat which killed nine Turkish activists, an internal military probe found Monday.
“Mistakes were made in the various decisions taken, including within relatively senior ranks, which contributed to the result not being as we would have wished,” retired general Giora Eiland told reporters in Tel Aviv, presenting the results of the investigation.
Eiland chaired a panel of military experts which was tasked with examining how the operation unfolded and learning lessons from it.
The committee began its work on June 7, exactly a week after the botched naval raid in international waters.
The military probe is separate from the Tirkel Commission, which is looking into the legality of the raid and of Israel’s four-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement.
Israel vowed to prevent any future attempts to breach the naval blockade, including the latest bid by a Libyan freighter, the Almathea, which currently appears to be heading to Gaza despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts to divert it to Egypt.
The ship was chartered by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association, a charity run by the Libyan leader’s son Saif al Islam.