A leader for the team that will investigate last week's Gaza flotilla incident has been appointed by Israeli officials, who confirmed over the weekend that they will not honor requests from the United Nations for an independent probe.

Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced today that General Giora Eiland will be leading the investigation that will look into last Monday's deadly raid by the IDF on a humanitarian convoy, which left nine people dead and sparked international outrage.

Israel has claimed that their commandos were only defending themselves against an alleged group of anti-Israel terrorists on board the convoy, although flotilla organizers have denied that they used deadly force.

A chorus of international leaders from Europe and the Middle East have condemned Israel over the incident, saying that they used a disproportionate amount of force in addressing the situation.

An independent probe proposed by the United Nations that would include representatives from Turkey, Israel, the United States and New Zealand has been rejected by Israeli officials, who maintain that their own investigation will meet the highest international standards.

Such actions have drawn suspicion from international officials, who see the rejection of the U.N.'s proposal as evidence that Israel is trying to hide something.

"The international community is facing a serious test," Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said according to the UK Guardian. "Does a country have the right to intercept a ship in international waters or not?"

Other leaders, including former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, have called on Israel to lift their blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"[The Gaza blockade] has been a disaster for the people involved, obviously those many killed and injured, it has also been a disaster for Israel," Miliband told BBC.

"There cannot be a Palestinian state and therefore cannot be peace for Israel and the rest of the Middle East with Gaza isolated with people unable to get in basic commodities, unable to rebuild their lives," he added.

On Sunday, French officials proposed that the European Union could help monitor the traffic of aid going into the Gaza Strip as they have in the past.

"We can very well monitor the cargoes of ships going to Gaza. We can do it, we'd like to do it, we'd be very happy about doing it," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told Reuters, adding that the situation in Gaza was "untenable."

Meanwhile, leaders in the faith community have also expressed their concerns about the continuing violence between Israel and Palestine.

Relief agency Norweigian Church Aid (NCA), a member of the ACT Alliance, launched a partial boycott against Israel on Saturday, expressing their concern that a lack of international response will undermine international law.

"I am worried that Israel, once again, will be met with words and little action," NCA General Secretary Atle Sommerfeldt said.

Sommerfeldt confesses that the conflict is complex and is understood differently among Palestinians and Israelis, but notes that the bottom line is that the occupation of Palestinians territories from 1967 violates international law and represents the biggest obstacle for a just peace.

"The Israeli blockade of Gaza, the wall erected on Palestinian land, the increase of Israeli settlements in the occupied areas, house demolition in East-Jerusalem and differentiated rights among Israeli citizens are all against international law," he said.

On Sunday while in Cyprus, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his concerns for the conflict in the Middle East by launching a personal appeal for an "urgent and concerted international effort to resolve the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, especially in the Holy Land, before such conflicts lead to greater bloodshed."