An educated analysis of the Israeli raid on blockade runners requires a good amount of context and discussion that is not always provided by news sources. It is unfortunate that Rachel Maddow, e.g., only had a rather trivial summary of the events last night. One issue that confuses, for instance, is the legitimacy in "international waters" in particular. I use quotes since the Kaplan article, for instance, noted:
The Israelis, in short, had plenty of time to issue warnings, explain to the public (including to the Turkish government) what steps might ensue if the activists carried out their plans—and, more important, to plan what the Israeli navy should do if the boats broke through the 28-kilometer "exclusion zone" (which apparently they didn't quite cross before the landing took place in any case).
Is that some sort of buffer zone that isn't totally international or something? The Washington Post (see also, discussions here) probably had the best tack:
International law experts differ over the legality of the Israel action, with some asserting that the raid constituted a clear cut violation of the Law of the Sea, while others maintain that Israel can board foreign vessels in international waters as part of a naval blockade in a time of armed conflict. But scholars on both sides of the debate agree that Israel is required by law to respond with the proportional use of force in the face of violent resistance.
This is more convincing than biased observers like this, a woeful choice to provide an analysis that people perhaps wary of the Israeli side (or of his strident advocacy in the past) might find particularly helpful, if not totally convincing. I say this evenhandedly: Democracy Now! has had useful coverage that provides a perspective often underutilized by MSM, but also should be taken with a grain of salt at times (an Israeli representative was interviewed, which is appreciated, since the show often doesn't provide both sides, even imperfectly).
As the Kaplan article suggests, there is a lot of stuff here, the overall justice of the Gaza situation likely to come up. But, this blockade issue, including the means used to enforce it, is an important specific matter that can and should be used to help understand just what is going on here.