Two pistols were stolen from soldiers and fired at soldiers by the activists. Once this happened, the soldiers were justified in using their side-arm. If they came with humanitarian aid and the intention to deliver it, then drop it off in Ashdod or Al-Arish as offered. Why did the Turkish ship fight so hard...to cover up the real contents of the ship bound for Hamas? And the Siege is perfectly legal. Hamas officially declared war on Israel in 2005, and lost her mandate to rule people of Gaza in 2007 per PLO Legislation.

In that case, most people are asleep which translates to minimal injuries and a quick over-taking of the ship. The fact that many were awake AND armed shows they were waiting for the IDF. This was not a surprise even if they stated so. If you have video - present it. If you have just rumors from activists, then stuff it. Shots from a boat-gun would be much more damaging than a 9mm side pistol.

from a bus load of civilians when he blew them all up. Of course, you can't explain how they all had pipes at hand right away (big surprise, huh?). And if they were defending themselves, then they somehow can guess the IDF soldiers were there to take hostages, kill people, and steal the booty? None of those claims were true, and the activists led the first attack, including the gun shot. They got what they deserved....in Israel's economic zone.

this was SIMPLY A political stunt DESIGNED to give Israel a BLACK EYE whether or not Israel took action !)-if they had made port in Gaza -a BIG VICTORY CELEBRATION WITH WORLD PRESS PARTICIPATION & Who knows what the cargo manafest contained -- 2) if boarded at sea ....and we see that political reprocussion presently a reprocuusion designed for maxiumin damage of israeli image either way Israel looses- Hope they publicaly reveal the total manafest of the floatilla and make well known the offers of inspection and transfers of goods to Gaza- To -Israel amatter of security To- hamas-a black eye for Israel-supplies icing on thier victory cake

You can count on revenge for your crimes.

and got their asses kicked for it. I dare you to do the same to the police and complain that they responded.

Again with the ridiculous example. Somalia is a 'country' with no functional government and these pirates are simply bandits looking to rip off ships. Israel is a fully functioning country protecting itself from a neighbor who seeks it's destruction. Refer to post #49 for more info as to the legality of it's actions

Its not easy to understand IDF. Its like they had a to peaceful time lately and wanted to do something about it so people wont forget them, good work!

yes, i would shoot: first on the attacker, second on the a$$hole who dropped me there... the point here is: im NOT any trained riot conrol, soldier, elite unit. what is to be seen on that video, is the stupidest thing operation ever. and one would expect, they dont drop school kids there, but soldiers educated in martial arts, or de-arming people. after all - it was a passenger ship with humanitarian aid !

The IDF did NOT shoot first. They should have at least sent in tear gas first. Note that only one "Peace" ship reacted this way, the Turkish one. The rest went peacefully, no incidents, no injuries, and the aid on those ships is already on it's way to Gaza.

and had they dropped on the boat with Greta Berlin or EU MPs, there would not have been an issue. But Berlin and others knew there were weapons on the ships and people who wanted to use them because they predicted "surprises" that would help them circumvent the IDF to Gaza. Now flotilla leaders are heard saying they can't be 100% sure weapons were not on the boat. Ooops! Caught lying again.

Understand this: Facts and truth ARE NOT THE POINT of CNN and BBC --- or *any* mainstream media source. Armed IDF soldiers were rushed by unarmed humanitarians? If a group of IDF soldiers rappel onto your ship with Tavor rifles and live ammo, are unarmed humanitarians going to attack them with pipes and knives? I don't think so, but of course such common sense will never reach the public. The only story you will see outside of Israel will be exactly this: "Unarmed humanitarians were attacked by Israeli soldiers with automatic assault rifles." And the West is too brain-dead to realize how absurd such a statement really is.

In these posts there is propaganda on both sides... I don't believe there are any arms or weapons on these boats and these were not terrorists on the boats. On the other hand Israel should not allow these boats into Gaza...why would they? It is their right to refuse and if I were there I'd never let them in either! This doesn't change the fact that the Israeli government made an error (in my opinion). First they put their commando's at risk and second what the hell were the people on the boats supposed to think? These were armed commando's coming down off a helicopter to people who were probably not expecting a physical confrontation...so yeah...they reacted just as most people would have! This is why I think the Israeli government made an error! The commando's did their job, exactly what they were asked to do but I can't help to imagine there was another way to stop these boats from entering without all the killings of people! To most Israelis these acts were justifiable because they are under constant attacks and can't live peacefully amongst people who just want to wipe them off the earth so I couldn't see myself trusting either. Doing what they did without killing anyone is what I think should have been organised. Israeli are amongst the most sophisticated and intelligent in the world...how a bunch of commandos jumped out of a helicopter and their lives were put at risk and many were killed is beyond comprehension to me! Send the boats back to their original ports with what they came with and if the protesters really want the best interest of Gaza they should send them through the proper channels!

The exclusive economic zone is more about fishing, pollution and sea floor control but a good argument and nice read.

the number of dead people is still not published. the army does know how many, but they dont say... its no excuse for the special unit to shoot people hitting with sticks. and when two pistols were stolen, then its neither an excuse to shoot more than 10 people... but - there will be an investigation and probably a trial over this... you dont have the right, to block gazans population from supplies or aid.. this will be clarified soon. william, i find it scaring, that so many of you justify this action. or - that the population in gaza is hold like in a concentration camp. it seems, whoever throws a stone at a soldier, or hits with a stick, can be shot to death. this is not self-defense, this is murder. do you expect the world to look away ?

Yes it was a stupid operation, but the stupidity has a root problem replacing Barak will not fix. The root of the problem is that no matter how many times the world proves unequivocally that there will never, ever, ever be any objectivity towards Israel, the Israeli leadership, time after time after time continues to conduct operations as if "THIS time they will see that we are being reasonable." Thus, Barak sends unarmed soldiers into harms way AS IF the world cares. They do not, and the only story the world cares about is "evil Jewish soldiers killing innocent humanitarians". -That- is the message in every media outlet across the globe this morning. Never will the world treat Israel fairly and the leadership must immediately relieve themselves of this delusion. There is NO amount of self-sacrifice that will gain the worlds approval. If Israel does not stop pursuing this delusion, this absolute refusal to accept the reality of the world today, then it is doomed.

All the pathetic and dishonest news media of the world could care less about the facts or what they could see with their own eyes if they cared. While the "statesmen" of Europe, the US, and the rest of the world don't need a bit of information to blame and/or warn Israel.

Thanks to the heroism of the IDF, it will be a long time before a group of Hamas-loving extremists try to mess with the Israel Navy.

these "humanitarian" pirates are wielding swords and pistols

many good points ....

when Karrin A (a weapon ship) was brought to israel with all the guns and bombs on it's board it was alright and all of a sudden it's not?! lets put it that way- would you tell your own son to wait until some bully will shoot him or u'll preffer him to hit first? it's now clear to me that you have never lost a friend in a war. i did. and i'm sure it is better to be seen less legitimate in the world's eyes, then losing our people life. if we have intelligence about someone who gonna attack us we better hit first don't you think?! i bet that if the same event was taking place in an arab state they would sink the ship right away. the main msg- stop being so naive

How do you explain all the illegal contraband and weapons found aboard the vessels, intended for transport to Gaza? How?

the israeli soldiers who boarded the shup were orderd not to fire. nopt only that but the israeli soldiers were carring paintbull guns and not live fire arms. you can se clearly in the footage one od the israeli soldiers holding a paint ball gun. and you can see the hipocracy of the world where imidatly the U.N leader demands israel to answer what happnes wheres he dosent ask turkey how did this "peacefull demonstrators" get such weapons on board?. dude if the russians would shoot people who give any cinde of aid to chechnia than non the hipocrits who spoke against israel would say anything against russia. The U.N is total B,S, all they do is condeme israel all the time because in ernest the U.N cant solve anything real in the world. The U.N didnt say anything about hania in gaza murdering about a hundred of his rivals, The U.N didnt say a thing abiut the brutal talks by Russia in Georgia. The U.N said and did nothing about the massacare in darfur?. Whant to know Why?, because in all those cases that i have just mentioned which are actualy a million time bigeer than what happend on the boat, Israel, is not involved in those cases. the only policiy of the U.N lets bully israel cause we are just a pathetic clowns in suites who cant solve any crises and we have to justify our paycheks every month. Leaders Of the U.N stop Brain Fucking israel and start dealing with real problems or go and get a real job

Customs usually fires a shot across the bow of a ship when it fails to comply to directions to stop. And then the ship is boarded. I would have liked to have seen a stronger boarding party. With more troops and flash grenades before setting foot on deck. I can understand reasons for wanting to use paint guns to prevent casualties. But these soldiers were being dropped into a largely hostile situation and were greatly outnumbered. Although the flotilla was claimed to be non violent. The Armed forces should have been better armed for this situation. I hope in future events like this will not occur. I am glad Israel security forces survived the attacks against them. And I pray for a speedy recovery for those soldiers injured in the line of duty. Israel has every right to protect its soverignty. And those who disagree Are enemies and stooges of evil.

IN THE GAZA HARBOR!

SAYS YOU IN YOUR DREAMS!

Israelis were right to fight and desarm them. Those hundred of "Civilians" armed with knives, steel bars AND poisonous intentions... should learn their lesson. Go home fishing, say thanks you got a mild treaty from the defenders of ISRAEL

The activists publicized their plan and were indeed headed for Israel and were warned as they approached. This was definitely a planned ambush - to resist, however the situation played out. Israel knew that the number of vessels would increase over time and just could not come up a consistent plan to deal with the activists. I would have much preferred that the navy communicated warnings and when those were ignored and they entered Israeli water, that the navy shot some holes at the bottom of the vessel so that it takes in water slowly - giving the passengers enough time to evacuate, of course with the help of the navy. Let the vessel and cargo sink. Why allow so much drama? That should have been done from day one of this nefarious plot. I think they would have gotten the message from the very first attempt. These well publicized attempts are serious provocations for Israel and each attempt is treated differently because Israel just has no plan.

Get out,provocateurs of hell!Get out with your tails between your legs.GO!

Well, let's start with your assertion that weapons and contraband were aboard. That's not stated in this or any other story, clearly you make up your own stories. But what I would like to raise is your obvious satisfactiion that israelis killed americans on the USS Liberty. You are a sick traitor. " 21. To: No. 7 The USS LIBERTY was a spy ship sent to eavesdrop on Israeli military communications while Israel was in the middle of a war. Do you know what they did with the communications they intercepted and translated? I will tell you. They conveyed them to Syria and to Jordan -- while Israel was actively engaged in combat against both countries, both countries of which were aggressors in 1967. That's why the USS LIBERTY was blown out of the water, and there isn't a single country in the world that would have done differently. ESPECIALLY the United States. As to the USS PUEBLO? Again, you're long on hyperbole, a little short on facts. The USS PUEBLO was taken by the North Koreans exclusively for the purpose of obtaining a United States naval encryption machine. You have the Walker family of spies to thank for that. North Korea was nothing more than a toady of the Soviet Union at the time. I resent your implication. Then again, you're pretty stupid, so I mostly discount you. Get the facts before you post. Unless you prefer to be made into a fool." Sarah B , U.S.A. / Israel (05.31.10)