The Palestinian Authority will apply to the United Nations for full membership for a Palestinian state and for the first time in decades, the Jewish state finds itself without a single dependable friend in the Middle East.
As calls for an international investigation of Israel's fatal raid on a flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza stip ramp up, Takeaway listeners are divided. Was Israel justified in its reaction, or did Israeli commandos go too far?
Details of the confrontation on the flotilla headed for Gaza remain contentious and incomplete. Annette Groth, a German parliamentarian, gives her firsthand account, and Michael Slackman of The New York Times analyzes the incident from Jerusalem.
To better understand the history of the blockade, we're joined now by Asaf Shariv, the Israeli Consul General to the U.S. We also speak with Philip Wilcox, the former American Consul General to Israel, about the larger implications of this confrontation.
In the ongoing offensive in Gaza, Israel shelled the headquarters of the United Nations in Gaza City. We turn to BBC correspondent Bethany Bell in Jerusalem for more on this developing situation.