Gaza, Israel, and Flotilla Fallout

Gaza's and Israel’s bloody encounter with a relief flotilla in the Mediterranean. We look at the clash and the fallout.

Israel’s raid early Monday morning on a relief flotilla headed to break the blockade of Gaza left nine or ten dead and a world of uproar.

Now, more ships are being readied, and Israel has said they’ll get the same reception. But the diplomatic cost to Israel - and to its ally the United States – is running high.

International support for sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program may be on the line. A majority of Israelis say in a new poll the flotilla should have been stopped some other way.

And Palestinians in Gaza still face the blockade.

This Hour, On Point: a bloody raid at sea, and its aftermath.Guests:

Joining us from Jerusalem is Janine Zacharia, staff writer and Middle East reporter for the Washington Post.

Christopher Dickey, Paris bureau chief and Middle East regional editor for Newsweek.

Joining us from Ramallah in the West Bank, is Diana Buttu, a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer, professor at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank, and former spokesperson with the Palestine Liberation Organization. She is best known for her work as a legal adviser and negotiator on peace negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian organizations.

Ehud Eiran, research fellow at the Belfer Center’s International Security Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He served as an officer in the Israeli Army and is currently a Reserve Major. He was a legal clerk for two Israeli Attorney Generals and Assistant to Prime Minister Ehud Barak's Foreign Policy Advisor.

Edward Peck, retired American career diplomat and ambassador. He was part of the flotilla, aboard the ship Sfendoni, that attempted to break the Gaza blockade.