This week I had planned to discuss matters of less gravitas, but the events surrounding the IHH flotilla on its way to Gaza are understandably dominating the thoughts of everyone here in Israel, and quite obviously many people further afield.

At the time of writing, reports are still coming in depicting the scenario that greeted the Israeli soldiers attempting to board the main vessel that was on its way to Gaza to apparently deliver humanitarian aid, and it might well be that by the time you hear this blog more evidence will have come to light that sheds quite a different perspective on the matter.

As things stands, the loss of human life in such a situation is always highly regrettable but it does appear that blame lies on both sides and not solely on the side of the Israelis, as was indicated by initial reports from a variety of mainstream international news media.

As the flotilla made its way to this part of the world it was, for a while, refused entry to Cypriot waters, apparently on the grounds that the Cypriot authorities were unwilling to accept the assurances of those on board that the cargo was wholly humanitarian and there were no items that could be used by the Hamas regime in Gaza for more ulterior purposes.

The day before the alarming pitched battle that occurred at sea, a variety of news sources reported that passengers aboard the lead ship were singing a song glorifying Islam and pining for the removal of Israelis from the land and a return to the teachings of the prophet Muhammed. A strange ditty, I thought, for a humanitarian organization whose sole aim is to relieve the acknowledged suffering of the ordinary people of Gaza. Could it possibly be that those on board had more on their collective agendas than simply offering supplies to a people let down, abused and kept in poverty by their own militant leadership?

Here in Israel most people from across the political spectrum felt that the flotilla was most likely a carefully orchestrated anti-Israel publicity stunt, just as much as it was an alleged humanitarian mission. The test of the voracity of the mission was whether or not the flotilla would accept the offer made many times by the Israeli authorities that the ships' cargo should be unloaded and inspected at the port of Ashdod, and then, subject to the consignment being legal and above board, would be delivered by lorries, in full, to Gaza. Surely any humanitarian group whose prime objective was to deliver goods to the Gazans couldn't have any possible objection to that?

As it happened they did, and refused many times point blank to make their way to Ashdod, raising suspicions that the contents on board the ships weren't all for 'humanitarian' purposes. Any country in the world anticipating the arrival of suspicious cargo in its territorial waters has the right to make an inspection. At this point Israel was doing everything by the book.   

Unfortunately, Israel has become a past master at scoring own goals on the PR front and of often turning a perfectly reasonable argument into a cause celebre for its opponents. What transpired when Israeli commandos boarded the ship appears to have been a doubly flawed policy which went disastrously wrong. With the most reasonable and legitimate of intentions, Israel managed to somehow 'cock it up' by first boarding the ships in international waters and not in its own territorial waters, and then launching a highly flawed and amateurish raid that saw individual soldiers being dangled and dropped into crowds of armed and baying pro-Palestinian protesters, without any recourse to an element of surprise or safety in numbers. 

One soldier, under what appeared from video images to be an alarmingly vicious assault from the supposed 'peace' flotilla, had his automatic weapon wrenched from his grasp, thus turning a potentially challenging situation into one that would soon resemble a war zone, with at least nine protesters dead and a number of Israeli soldiers seriously injured.

Reaction to the events of the boarding of the flotilla have been predictably swift, with Hamas calling for a 'day of rage', human rights organizations chiming in with 'war crimes' comments, and the good old UN recalled for an emergency session to discuss the matter and doubtless issue a stern condemnation of the Israeli authorities without mention of any extenuating circumstances.

What upsets me most in this whole affair is not that Israel intercepted the flotilla – they were perfectly entitled to do so – but that the planning and execution of the inspection of the boats was carried out with less brains than your average Somali pirate can muster! Worse than this, the resultant reaction has provided a desperately needed lifeline for the terrorist regime of Hamas in Gaza. 

At the start of this week it was widely reported that there was distinct unrest in the territory due to the wages of public workers not having been paid for three months, the perceived cronyism and corruption of the government, and the significant deterioration in the standard of living of Gaza residents. Since Hamas came to power, and as a direct result of their refusal to acknowledge the right of the State of Israel to exist and their determination to carry on an armed struggle, the Israeli blockade of the territory for all but humanitarian aid and essential supplies has brought very hard times to the average Gazan. Hamas' populatiry was at an all-time low and there was a distinct chance of a popular uprising favouring a return to rule by Fatah.

Israel has now presented the Hamas leadership with a gift wrapped publicity coup that has turned their popularity completely on its head. What a stupid a mistake for the Israeli government and armed forces to make. Time might show this error will prove very costly indeed.

The atmosphere in Israel now is very tense. Latest reports indicate that Hizbollah, backed by Syria and Iran in southern Lebanon have now amassed up to 40,000 rockets (some capable of reaching further than Tel Aviv), and most of which are sited within the supposed UN security zone or ' blue line'. How can the 'impartial' UN explain how it has let the terrorist Hizbollah forces re-arm to a far greater strength than was the case before the last Lebanon War in 2006? 

On top of the Hizbollah situation in the north, with Gaza in the south now on the verge of re-igniting, a growing appetite for confrontation coming from the West Bank, Syria and Iran making inflammatory statements, some Israeli Arab leaders talking of an uprising and the US diplomatic line failing to bear fruit, the signs all point to a major armed conflict in the region, most probably within the next 3-6 months.

These are difficult and dangerous times here in the Middle East. Israel has a right to defend herself and to use reasonable force to do so. Israel has the right to exist in this historic, but much troubled region. But Israel must not alienate the few friends that remain by using flawed military tactics and initiating amateurish commando missions. 

The Gaza flotilla debacle might pass without an immediate conflict being lit by this particular touch paper, but it is merely a matter of time before another incident, most likely of far more serious proportions comes along and Israel and its neighbours face each other once again at the point of a gun.