Occupied Jerusalem: Turkey has "no trust" that a commission set up by Israel to probe the deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships would conduct an impartial investigation, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday.

"We have no trust at all that Israel, a country that has carried out such an attack on a civilian convoy in international waters, will conduct an impartial investigation," Davutoglu told reporters. Turkey insists that the May 31 raid, in which eight Turks and a dual Turkish-US national were killed, be investigated by a commission "under the direct control of the United Nations... an impartial one with the participation of Turkey and Israel", he said. Israel's cabinet yesterday approved an Israeli inquiry. into the deadly flotilla raid by a panel set to include two foreign observers after international calls for an impartial investigation.

The White House welcomed the move as an important step and said Israel was capable of conducting a fair probe into the May 31 operation to prevent a six-ship aid flotilla from breaking its blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Israel said its commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists when they boarded a Turkish-flagged vessel and were attacked by passengers with metal rods and knives.

Organisers and eyewitnesses on the ship have vehemently denied that the aid ship was carrying weapons.

Inquiry: Judge to head panel

An official statement on Sunday said a retired Israeli Supreme Court judge, Jacob Turkel, would head the committee probing the flotilla raid.

It will include two other Israelis — an international law expert and a former general — and two non-voting foreign observers: David Trimble, a Northern Ireland politician and Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Canadian jurist Ken Watkin. The panel's mandate, as stipulated in the official statement, did not appear to pose a threat to Netanyahu's political survival as it did not include an examination of his government's decision-making role in the raid.

Instead, it will examine whether Israel's Gaza blockade and the flotilla's interception conformed with international law and also investigate the actions taken by the convoy's organisers and participants, the statement said. Netanyahu has said soldiers who took part in the raid or planned the operation would not testify before the commission.

— Reuters