Israeli PM blames 'hostile group' - Al Jazeera

There was fresh criticism of Israel on Saturday when troops forced another Gaza aid ship to change course Israel's prime minister has claimed that a group of activists intent on violence secretly boarded the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, avoiding security checks, and attacked Israeli troops during last week's deadly raid. Binyamin Netanyahu's comments are the latest in an Israeli campaign to defend its attack on a flotilla of ships headed for the blockaded Gaza Strip with hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian cargo. He said on Sunday that "dozens of thugs'' from "an extremist, terrorism-supporting'' organisation had prepared for the arrival of the naval commandos. Netanyahu made the comments at a cabinet meeting amid the international outcry over the Israeli navy's storming of the Mavi Marmara, the Freedom Flotilla's lead ship, that left nine people dead. "According to the information currently in our possession, this group boarded separately in a different city, organised separately, equipped itself separately and went on deck under different procedures," Netanyahu said. "The clear intent of this hostile group was to initiate a violent clash with IDF [Israeli army] soldiers." However, he did not provide any evidence to support his allegation. Customs checks Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem, said all cargo and passengers were required to pass through customs and port security whether they boarded in Greece, Ireland or Turkey. "Israel has yet to provide evidence that any attack on its soldiers was in fact pre-planned - something denied by all those travelling on board the ship," he said. IN DEPTH Calls from around the world for an independent enquiry with foreign observers will be weighed against Israel's reluctance to submit itself to any form of international tribunal. The US has called for "a credible, impartial and and transparent investigation" into the Israeli commando raid. But Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the US, said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday that his country will reject the idea of an international investigation. "We are rejecting an international commission. We are discussing with the [Barack] Obama administration a way in which our inquiry will take place," he said. Israeli ministers have differing views on how to handle calls for an investigation. "I see no place for an inquiry with non-Israeli participants," Daniel Hershkowitz, Israel's science minister, said on Sunday, and Yuval Steinitz, the finance minister, agreed. Open probe backed By contrast, Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister, has supported an open investigation. "We have nothing to hide. And if they want to include an international member of some sort in their committee, that's alright," he told the Israeli public radio on Thursday. Leiberman separately told the Israeli news webiste, YNet, that he supports lifting the siege on Gaza's land crossings [but not land], in return for a visit to Gilad Shalit, the captured Israeli soldier, from the humanitarian organisation, International Committee of the Red Cross. There was a fresh criticism of Israel on Saturday when special forces boarded an Irish-owned vessel, the Rachel Corrie, after it ignored orders not to go to Gaza with aid. This time there was no resistance but the ship was forced to sail to an Israeli port where it was impounded. Its 19 passengers and crew were being deported on Sunday. Israel imposed the Gaza blockade blockade of Gaza in 2006 when Hamas, the Palestinian faction, won elections and took power there.