Spain, Germany and Greece have all officially dropped legal proceedings against Israel over the 2010 raid of the Mavi Marmara ship, which belonged to a flotilla seeking to breach Israel's blockade on Gaza. Israeli commandos who boarded the ship at the time were met with violence, and killed 10 Turkish activists in the ensuing clash. The arrest warrants were issued in November and canceled following a debate on the matter. Similar undertakings were dropped in both Greece and Germany. Meanwhile, legal proceedings over the incident continue in the United States and at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. In Turkey, legal proceedings are in order against former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, former military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin, former Israeli Navy commander Eli Marom and former Israeli Air Force intelligence chief Avishai Levy. At the same time, three Americans and one Belgian national filed suit against the government of Israel in a U.S. federal court on Monday, seeking damages for injuries they say they sustained during the 2010 raid. Huwaida Arraf, a dual U.S. and Israeli national, was on board a U.S. boat named Challenger 1, which was part of the flotilla attempting to circumvent Israel's blockade of Gaza. Arraf said she tried to communicate with Israeli soldiers as they boarded the boat. "We are on an American ship. This is an American boat. Stay away from us. They threw grenades on our boat to startle everybody and they were shooting something -- a projectile that hit one of my colleagues [in the] face. And I looked at her, and she was all bloodied, so just didn't know why they were being so violent. I was knocked down and then my head was slammed into the deck of the boat," she said in an interview with Reuters after she and case lawyers announced the court filing during a press conference on Tuesday. Lawyers for the plaintiffs in the civil case said because the ship was flying a U.S. flag, U.S. laws should apply on board. "We are arguing that this U.S.-flagged vessel is the United States and therefore the injuries inflicted by the Israeli Defense Forces on the ship were inflicted in the United States," Steven Schneebaum, U.S. counsel for the plaintiffs, said. Israel is expected to answer the complaint within 60 days of its filing. Exact compensation being sought in the case has not been released. In a related case, relatives of a 19-year-old U.S. citizen killed in the flotilla incident are suing former Israeli Prime Minister and then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak for the raid.
Credit: Reuters
Spain dropped arrest warrants that had been issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, former Defense Minister Ehud Barak, current Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, former Interior Minister Eli Yishai, former Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor and former Minister Without Portfolio Benny Begin.
Spain, Germany, Greece drop proceedings against Israeli officials over Gaza flotilla raid
After Spain, Germany and Greece drop arrest warrants against Israeli officials over the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident, three Americans and one Belgian national file suit against Israel in a U.S. federal court, seeking damages in the case.
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