Israel to cooperate with UN probe into Gaza flotilla

Israel has announced it will cooperate with a UN investigation into its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May. "Israel has nothing to hide, the opposite is true," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The four-member panel, announced by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, will include an Israeli and a Turkish member. The commando raid on the six-ship convoy killed nine Turkish activists and caused an international outcry. The panel, which will be led by former New Zealand PM Geoffrey Palmer and outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, will begin work on 10 August, Mr Ban said. Ban said the panel was an "unprecedented development". Until now Israel had declined to take part in the inquiry and had set up its own investigation into the raid. But Mr Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying: "It is in the national interest of the state of Israel to ensure that the factual truth of the overall flotilla events comes to light throughout the world and this is exactly the principle that we are advancing."