- AMMAN: A UN inquiry team started hearings on Monday with Jordanian activists about the Israeli fatal attack on a Turkish ship that was part of the flotilla which tried to break the three-year-old siege of the Palestinian territory on May 31, one of the activists said.
“The panel, which is due to stay in Jordan until Friday, met several people over the past hours,”, Badi Rafayaa, a prominent trade unionist, said.
Rafayaa was one of 33 Jordanian activists who were aboard the Gaza-bound flotilla when Israeli forces raided the ship Mavi Marmara ferry, killing nine Turkish citizens, and wounding several others.
“The team will be hearing me tomorrow afternoon,” he said.
Rafayaa said that the UN panel will also meet in Amman with two Arab activists from Israel - Hanin Zoabi from the National Democratic Assembly and Mohammad Zeidan, director general of the Arab Association of Human Rights-who were aboard the Turkish vessel when the Israeli attack occurred.
The fact-finding mission is chaired by Karl Hudson-Phillips, former judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague.
The team arrived in Amman Sunday from Turkey where they conducted hearings for eight days.
The panel is due to report back to the UN Human Rights Council during its next session between Sept. 13 and Oct. 11.
Israel has refused cooperation with the team, saying it lacked neutrality.
