UN: Israel's Gaza Blockade Doesn't Violate International Law

A Turkish newspaper is reporting that according to first draft of UN report, Israel's Gaza blockade does not violate international law 

The first draft of the panel’s report, which was handed to both sides prior to making it public, infuriated Turkey, which threatened to disassociate itself from the report unless radical changes were made.

The panel seems to be operating from the premise that Israel’s maritime blockade on Gaza does not breach international law, the Daily News has learned from diplomatic sources.

This premise weakens Turkey’s argument that Israel violated international law by attacking the flotilla in international waters. There is ongoing debate in the international arena on whether Israel’s blockade is lawful and the issue remains one of the most controversial dimensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

So far, so good. But the UN is apparently trying to be 'evenhanded'. After deciding the more disputed issue in favor of Israel, the UN then turns around and decides for Turkey on an issue that is clear and documented with video that Israel is right: 

The first draft does, however, accuse Israel of resorting to excessive use of violence that led to the death of the nine Turkish nationals. It asks Israel to pay compensation, one of the two conditions Turkey demanded be fulfilled to normalize ties with Israel. The early version of the draft does not include a call on Israel to apologize, which is Ankara’s second condition. 

Considering the visual evidence of the attempt of those on board to attack and kill the Israeli soldiers (besides other evidence of malicious intent, such as the terrorist ties of the IHH, one of the flotillla's sponsors.), such a conclusion by the UN is clearly nothing but a sop to

Turkey.

It now remains to be seen what the final document will actally say, but if the UN report sticks to its guns that the Gaza blockade does not violate international law, it would be the most welcome news since the deputy director of the Red Cross in Gaza admitted that "there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza" 

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