The United Nations has once again delayed the release of a report into Israel’s deadly attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in 2010.
The UN’s findings about the incident, which left nine Turkish activists dead and many others wounded, was expected out on Wednesday.
It is the second time that the publication of the report, known as the Palmer report, had been delayed. It was initially to have been released around July 8.
"The secretary general has decided to postpone the publication of the report and he decided to consult both sides before taking the decision," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP. He, however, refused to confirm reports suggesting that Israel had requested the delay.
According to Israeli sources, the long-awaited UN study will now be released on August 20.
Tel Aviv has been hard trying to mend its damaged relations with Ankara, devastated since the flotilla attack, before the publication of the report.
On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that he hoped the repeatedly deferred publication would again be pushed back in order to give Israel more time to settle the diplomatic dispute with Turkey.
Turkey has repeatedly said that relations between the two sides can only be restored if Tel Aviv apologizes for the attack, compensates the families of those killed and the injured, and lifts its deadly blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Israel has reportedly agreed to a payout but is resisting calls to apologize, proposing instead to express regret.
On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos attacked the six-vessel Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters to prevent the convoy from breaching its crippling blockade on the Palestinian territory.
In the assault, nine Turkish nationals, including a teenager with Turkish-US dual citizenship, were killed and dozens were injured.
Turkey said that some of the victims had been shot "execution-style" at point-blank.
Turkish post-mortem examinations also revealed that a total of 30 bullets were found in the bodies of the nine dead activists. One of the activists had been shot four times in the head.
(Press TV)
