Israel's leaders sent helicopters of armed commandos to raid a convoy of ships in international waters bringing medicine and humanitarian supplies to Gaza, killing nine of them and wounding at least 30 people.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said "We live in the Middle East, in a place where there is no mercy for the weak."
There is none shown to the Palestinians, especially the 1.5 million caged in Gaza.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel had "no other choice" but to stop the flotilla of ships which tried to break the Gaza blockade.
The Israeli blockade allows about 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza every week. The UN says this is less than a quarter of what is needed.
A columnist in the Ha'aretz newspaper wrote to his fellow Israelis, "We are no longer defending Israel. We are now defending the siege” of Gaza.
The UN, EU, and nearly every other government and multilateral organization have called on Israel to lift the blockade.
It's time for Israel to comply with international law and end the siege of Gaza.
The Israeli blockade and the violence used to defend it, poisons the dream of two free and viable states, Israel and Palestine.