The fact-finding team comprises three independent experts — Sir Desmond de Silva (Britain), Karl Hudson-Phillips (Trinidad and Tobago) and Mary Shanthi Dairiam (Malaysia), a UN statement said.
The 47-country Council voted to set up the independent inquiry on June 2 to look into what it called violations of international law in Israel's commando attack in May in which nine Turkish activists were killed.
"The expertise, independence and impartiality of the members of the mission will be devoted to clarifying the events which took place that day and their legality," said Thailand's Ambassador Sihasak Phuangketkeow, current Council president.
"We call upon all parties to fully cooperate with the mission and hope that this mission will contribute to peace in the region and justice for the victims," he said.
The UN team is expected to travel to Israel, Turkey and Gaza in August to interview witnesses and gather information before reporting back to the Council in September. The Council opens a three-week session in Geneva on Sept. 12.
Earlier Friday, Israel said it will return the Turkish aid ships on which its troops killed the activists. Turkey withdrew its ambassador and suspended joint military exercises after the May 31 raid on the Mavi Marmara cruise ship and five other vessels. Ankara also demanded an apology, but Israel has ruled that out.
"A decision was made yesterday to allow the ships to leave without further conditions. Turkey has been informed. They will leave soon," an Israeli official said.
The Turkish embassy was handling discussions on how to retrieve the ships from Haifa and Ashdod ports, another Israeli official said, but the embassy had no immediate comment.
The return of the ships was one of steps the UN Security Council had asked Israel to take a day after the raid.
"This was something Israel had to do anyway. There were certain steps Israel needed to take, and this was one of them," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying in Vietnam by state-run Anatolian news agency.
