JERUSALEM, Oct 25, (AFP): The first passengers from a Gaza-bound aid ship to testify on the deadly operation were on Monday unable to answer the key question of who started the violence that left nine Turkish activists dead. Two Arab-Israeli men, Mohammed Zedan and Sheikh Hamad Abu Daabis, were both on the flagship Mavi Marmara when it was seized as part of the May 31 raid on a six-ship flotilla which was trying to run Israel’s Gaza blockade. “I cannot tell you regarding who attacked first, who beat up whom first. I did not see with my own eyes,” said Daabis, who said they were at pre-dawn prayers when the commandos boarded the vessel.

“We heard a very loud explosion which shook the ship. We did not know where it was coming from,” he told the Tirkel Commission.
Until Monday, the four-member panel had not heard any first-hand testimony from people directly involved in the clashes on board the Mavi Marmara, although the panel on Sunday urged more passengers to come forward and testify.
The commission, which the Israeli government set up in June, has a mandate to look into the legality of the raid in which nine Turkish activists were shot dead.
Israel says its soldiers fired in self-defence after they were attacked with clubs and knives, but activists say the Israelis opened fire as soon as they rappelled from helicopters on to the Mavi Marmara’s upper deck.

The army has also barred soldiers who took part in the raid from testifying before the commission, allowing only Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi to give evidence twice.
On Monday the two witnesses said immediately after the commotion started that they went inside the ship on instructions from the captain and could not see much.
“I heard helicopters overhead and heard shooting. I did not see what was going on,” said Zedan.
The two Arab-Israelis had been due to testify on Oct 13 but did not show up because they did not want to be seen as cooperating with what they saw as a biased committee.
But they were compelled to appear on Monday after being subpoenaed.
The committee on Sunday put out an appeal for anyone who was a passenger on board the Marmara to come forward and testify.

Meanwhile, a rights group on Monday published new photos of Israeli soldiers posing with detainees and vandalising Palestinian homes, in images apparently taken during the 2008-2009 Gaza war.
In one picture, a soldier points his assault rifle at the face of a blindfolded detainee and in another an officer is seen spray-painting a Star of David and “Back soon” on what looks to be the wall of a home.
Others show soldiers smiling and posing inside what appears to be Palestinian homes, and in one picture a woman in a headscarf is cooking at a stove.
Their release comes after a series of photos and videos depicting Palestinian prisoners have gone public after being posted on social network sites in a practice the military has said it is trying to halt.
The latest images were acquired by Breaking the Silence, a group of veteran combat soldiers who collect testimonies and photos of troops who have served in the occupied territories.
Yehuda Shaul, a founding member of the Israeli rights group, declined to reveal the source of the photos, but said the group has received dozens of similar pictures that point to a widespread phenomenon.

“It’s the norm in the Israeli military, and it’s a direct consequence of being in a place where you control and rule civilians on a daily basis,” he said.
“You become corrupt, and you are not able any more to see them as human beings like you.”
The Israeli military would not immediately comment on the photos.
Shaul said the group was still trying to determine the exact circumstances of where the photos were taken but that they appeared to feature the same units, weapons and surroundings of other pictures taken during the Gaza war.
Israel launched a massive 22-day assault on the Hamas-ruled territory in December 2008 in a bid to halt near-daily rocket attacks. Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the fighting.

Shaul said the group decided to release the photos after previous incidents which the military characterised as exceptional cases.
“Playing around with detainees is something we have dozens of photos about. That’s the reality. That’s the nature of the occupation,” he said.
In August, photos surfaced on the social networking website Facebook that showed a female soldier posing next to blindfolded Palestinian detainees, and a YouTube video earlier this month showed a soldier bellydancing next to a blindfolded female detainee wearing a headscarf.