Ismail Yilmaz says the last thing he would do is call himself a terrorist. He is a father of three and says he boarded the ship for Gaza for his three daughters.

“Gazan children should have a right to live freely; we want this so I joined that organization. If another event of this kind is organized – I would go again,” IHH volunteer Ismail Yilmaz says.

Set up in the early 1990s to help Bosnian Muslims, the IHH, or Humanitarian Relief Foundation, has offices in 120 countries

“If the people are in need – we will go and we will show our solidarity for these people,” informed Huseyin Oruc, Vice President of Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH).

And it showed solidarity in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Indonesia, Iraq, China as well as Palestinians.

“We have built hospitals, we have built schools, infrastructure, we have built houses for the people,” Huseyin Oruc says.

Palestinian writer Ghada Kami says Israel is trying to portray the group as a terrorist one in order to try to justify the deadly flotilla raid.

“In the immediate aftermath, condemnation of what Israel had done, Israelis mounted a defense which was, in a way, quite clever, but not based on any facts,” noted Ghada Kami.

It is now for the investigators to decide. Turkey, Israel and the UN, each with its own inquiry.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, told RT that the results of the recent UN report on the flotilla incident were pre-determined.

“This report was determined in advance, the Human Rights Council held an emergency session only a day or two after the flotilla incident happened,” Neuer said. “They declared Israel guilty of ‘an outrageous attack’, so the outcome was entirely pre-determined, and this is not something that’s exceptional.”

“In fact, Mary Robinson, who was the UN rights chief, said the Human Rights Council has a pattern of acting politically and not for human rights,” Hillel Neuer added. “Let’s remember who the membership is – Saudi Arabia, China, Colonel Gaddafi of Libya is now a member of the Human Rights Council. This is not a body that cares about human rights. This is a body that is political, that is engaged in a constant campaign to de-legitimize Israel, and human rights is the last thing on the minds of members like Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Libya.”

Adnan Abu Hasna from United Nations relief and works agency believes that the UN’s goal is to end the harsh blockade of Gaza.

“What UN is aiming for – they have to prevent such incidents [like that with the flotilla] in the future, I think that the only guarantee is not to ease, but to end the blockade on the Gaza strip…”

“I don’t think easing of the blockade had a great influence on the humanitarian situation or the circumstances of people,” he added. “What’s going on is that Israel is allowing more trucks to get into Gaza, but no one is asking the question what these trucks have? We need jobs here in Gaza, […] we need building materials to get into Gaza, because we have tens of thousands of homeless people in the Gaza Strip. We have more than 4,000 factories that have been destroyed during the war […], 80 per cent of the population still depending on UN humanitarian aid organization – it is unbearable!”

In the meantime Washington has said it is disappointed Israel refused to extend a ban on settlement construction in the West Bank. The US special envoy will try to salvage renewed peace talks now threatened by the resumption of building works. It comes as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told Israel that West Bank settlements are illegal under international law.