The investigation found that the Turkish-flagged Marmara was allowed to leave Turkey with firearms and
other weapons for a confrontation with the Israel Navy in the Mediterranean
Sea in which nine passengers were killed.
[On June 7, the Israel Navy was reported to have foiled a sea-based
insurgency strike from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said a squad of
four frogmen was detected and killed as they left Gaza's Nusseirat refugee
camp toward Israel.]
Officials said the Turkish government, particularly the new intelligence
chief, Hakan Fidan, appeared to have collaborated with the Turkish Islamists
on board Marmara. They said Turkish authorities failed to stop the Islamist
fighters, nor seize the weapons, body armor and gas masks loaded on to the
flotilla.
Most of the weapons and other military-related equipment were said to
have been hurled into the sea as Israel Navy commandos boarded Marmara on
May 31. The military said it recovered some of the equipment.
"This group boarded separately in a different city, organized
separately, equipped itself separately and went on deck under different
procedures," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on June
6. "In effect, they underwent no checks. The clear intent of this hostile
group was to initiate a violent clash with Israel Defense Forces soldiers."
The military reported that several of the Turkish fighters fired toward
the naval commando force, which took more than 30 minutes to commandeer
Marmara. But the military determined that most of the shots were believed to
have been fired from pistols and a rifle seized from the commandos. The
exception was the use of a 9mm revolver not employed by the navy.
"We have credible testimony that the ship contained a range of weapons
and possibly valuable components meant for delivery to the Gaza Strip," a
military source said. "These items were thrown off the ship during the
interception mission."
The investigation also determined that between 60 and 100 of the Turks
aboard Marmara were trained and paid thousands of dollars each to battle the
Israeli military. The sources said the money came through the Al
Qaida-aligned Turkish organization IHH, a sponsor of the flotilla and linked
to the Erdogan government.
The military identified five of the Marmara passengers as connected to
Al Qaida and Hamas. They were Fatmia Mahmadi, a 31-year-old Iranian native
who lives in the United States and sought to transport dual-use electronics
to the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. Kenneth O'Keefe, a dual British-U.S.
citizen, was said to have planned to train Hamas commando units, and Hassan
Iynasi, who was reported to have helped both Al Qaida as well as Palestinian
Islamic Jihad.
"[O'Keefe's] goal was to reach Gaza in order to help train and establish
Hamas commando units," the military said on June 6.
In all, the sources said, at least 50 Turks were each found with an
envelope that contained $10,000 in cash. They said none of these Turks
carried passports or other identification.
"This is not the kind of money you get from your family," the source
said. "This is the kind of money you get from a government."
The military investigation said the Turkish fighters, who employed axes,
metal pipes, knives and saws, had tried to abduct at least three of the
naval commandos and hold them below deck for ransom. But the commandos
managed to flee their captors during the battle with the Israeli force and
returned to the upper deck.
"We would have obtained much more information from them [Turkish
Islamists] had we been able to hold them for a few days, but there was a
political decision to release them immediately," the source said.
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