The international community has been almost unanimous in condemning Israel's raid on an aid flotilla heading towards Gaza, which led to the death of nine activists on Monday, most of them Turks.
It's difficult to understand why Israel acted in this way - why it risked further straining its relations with Turkey, one of its few allies in the Muslim world; why it allowed itself to be lured into a trap and how it bungled the whole operation, creating a public relations disaster.
Members of Israel's seaborne special forces took part in the operation, but many Israeli commentators have pointed out that this unit is trained for combat, not crowd control.
It is evident that the troops that went in were ill-prepared, not in sufficient numbers and lacked the relevant intelligence about what type of response was being prepared on the ship.
The Israeli raid took place in international waters and the legality of the whole operation is certainly debateable. The United Nations Security Council has called for a "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent" international inquiry into Israel's commando attack but this was, unfortunately, immediately rejected by Israel, which said it is to conduct an inquiry itself.
Israel justified its use of force against the convoy by saying its soldiers acted in self-defence after the activists attacked them with knives, crowbars, clubs and pistols.
Since Israel has refused to allow a UN inquiry into the incidents, the real facts will probably never really emerge and Israel will be the big loser as world public opinion has turned against it after these incidents.
As a consequence of Israel's actions, the world has now become more sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza and has become more aware of the effects of Israel's illegal blockade of this territory, which has caused much hardship to the people living there.
Israel defends its blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza by saying it is necessary to prevent the infiltration of weapons from Iran. Israel certainly does have legitimate security concerns, but it needs to rethink its whole approach to dealing with the situation in Gaza.
In reality, Israel's blockade of Gaza - in effect with Egyptian complicity as the border crossing at Rafah is often closed - is aimed at destroying Hamas regardless of the cost to ordinary Palestinians.
This policy has failed, is counter-productive and has only increased support for Hamas as Palestinians vent their anger and frustration at Israel.
The international community does not believe Israel is right to blockade Gaza and it seems US President Barack Obama considers this policy to be unsustainable. Various international media reports suggest that the Obama administration plans to press for another approach to ensure Israel's security while allowing more supplies into the impoverished Palestinian area.
Philip Crowley, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, said after Monday's incidents: "The United States remains deeply concerned by the suffering of civilians in Gaza. We will continue to engage the Israelis on a daily basis to expand the scope and type of goods allowed into Gaza to address the full range of the population's humanitarian and recovery needs."
Israel's actions have posed a dilemma for the Obama administration as it tries to shore up international support for additional sanctions against Iran and get the Middle East peace process underway.
A meeting in Washington between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week was cancelled by Netanyahu, and the moderate Fatah Palestinians who administer the West bank have denounced Israel. Any chance of meaningful Israeli-Palestinian talks now seems as remote as ever.
Perhaps the gravest consequence of Israel's actions has been the reaction of Turkey, traditionally the Jewish state's ally, and certainly its closest friend in the Muslim world.
Most of the ships in the aid flotilla were Turkish flagged, the trip was organised by a Turkish charity, seven of the victims were Turkish nationals and one was a Turkish-American.
Turkish President Abdullah Gol said: "Israel has made one of the biggest mistakes in its history. Without doubt, Turkey will never forgive such an attack."
Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of "inhuman state terror", adding that "Turkey will not remain silent in response".
Within hours of the attack on the convoy, Turkey recalled its Ambassador from Israel, cancelled joint military exercises and appealed to the UN Security Council to take action over the incidents.
It is true that Turkish-Israeli relations have been on the decline ever since Israel's attack on Gaza in 2008 and that many conservative Muslims in Turkey - who form the bedrock of the ruling AK party - are demanding a tougher line with Israel over its treatment of Palestinians.
However, questions are being raised on why Israel chose to further antagonise such an important regional Muslim friend.
What is needed now is a cooling-off period as tensions are certainly high in the region. Washington needs to make more of an effort at enticing Israel to behave responsibly and Israel certainly needs to reassess its policy towards Gaza. Too much is at stake to let the situation deteriorate further.