Gaza aid vessel boarding legal?: The BIG lie debunked

Robin Churchill, a professor of international law at the University of Dundee in Scotland, said the Israeli commandos boarded the ship outside of Israel's territorial waters. "As far as I can see, there is no legal basis for boarding these ships," Churchill said.

Ove Bring, Swedish expert on public international law, said that Israel had no right to take military action. That is also supported by Mark Klamberg at Stockholm University.

Hugo Tiberg, professor in maritime law, states that Israel had no right to attack the ships.

Canadian scholar Michael Byers notes that the event would only be legal if the Israeli boarding were necessary and proportionate for the country's self defence. Byers believes that "the action does not appear to have been necessary in that the threat was not imminent.

Jason Alderwick, a maritime analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies of London, is quoted as saying that the Israeli raid did not appear to have been conducted lawfully under the convention.

http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part7.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapter_VII_of_the_United_Nations_Charter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_242