Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak canceled an official visit to Paris on Sunday, after French Freedom Flotilla passengers threatened to file suit against the minister over a deadly raid that killed nine, Israeli media reported.

"The minister cancelled his trip to Paris for the Eurosatory and his meetings with top French officials," Barak's office said in a statement.

Barak was due to attend the international military exhibition, Eurosatory, with Israel's Defense Ministry saying he decided not to travel until Israel forms an internal inquiry team into the fatal raid in international waters on 31 May, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

The botched pre-dawn raid in international waters left nine Turkish activists dead and scores injured, provoking a diplomatic crisis for Israel which is facing mounting pressure to re-examine its blockade of the Gaza Strip and answers to the use of fake European passports to Kill senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mabhouh in Dubai earlier this year.

Over the weekend, French activists who took part in the flotilla to the Gaza Strip announced that they intend to file a lawsuit against Barak both in France and in the International Criminal Court in The Hague with three members of French parliament have joined the effort.

Lilian Jalok, who represents the French activists, said, "I speak on behalf of the lawyers who will approach the International Court of Justice in the Hague over the Israeli attack on the aid ships which was undoubtedly a war crime."

"We must stop this bloody Israeli escalation and the only way is international judiciary. We want to stop Israel through punishing its leaders who partook in the operation. We will mainly target the leaders who gave the orders and those who executed them," Jalok said.

"Human right activists were sending basic goods to Gaza, and according to the international law, they were not carrying out illegal actions," she said.

The group condemned the French government's decision to host Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and called on police to arrest the Israeli official once on French soil.

"We believe it is unacceptable and unjust that the French government hosts Ehud Barak honoring him with official ceremonies after he claimed responsibility for the attack on our flotilla and the bloodshed," said Tomas Hud, one of the activists on board the Freedom Flotilla.