Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Israel's cabinet has approved the establishment of an Israeli inquiry into its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which nine people were killed.

The decision coincided with growing signs that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was poised, under world pressure, to ease the flow of goods into the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians and run by Hamas.