The United Nations Human Rights Council recently announced it would back a report that found that Israel’s commando raid on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla had “no legal, political, moral, or humane justification.” The flotilla was a convoy of six ships that were attempting to deliver humanitarian goods to Gaza.
The report acknowledged that “Israel had committed torture, inhumane treatment, deliberate harm and injuries” during the nighttime raid that took place in international waters.
The report also categorically demonstrates that six of the resulting nine fatalities were “extra-legal, arbitrary, and summary executions.” Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen of Turkish descent, was lying unconscious for some time before being shot in the face at point-blank range.
Forensics experts also reported that Ibrahim Bilgen, a 60-year-old Turkish man, was shot first by a helicopter and then, as he lay injured on the deck, in the head.
The report also found no evidence that firearms were onboard the ship.