Israeli forces boarded a Turkish-flagged vessel attempting to ferry relief supplies into Gaza on Monday and killed nine civilians in the process. The parties disagree on who instigated the fighting, but there's no doubt the ship was attempting to penetrate Israel's three-year blockade of the occupied territory. According to international law, when can a country establish a blockade?
When it's at war, or the United Nations has granted special permission. Naval blockades are acts of war under international law, so one country may legally blockade another only if it is acting in individual or collective self-defense—the standard requirements for going to war—or the U.N. Security Council has proclaimed the action necessary to maintain international peace. Some legal scholars, however, view the aged and restrictive laws governing blockades as being out of step with modern conflict. They argue that, under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, countries have broad rights to interdict and inspect any ships that may be carrying weapons into their territory, and such actions should not be interpreted as formal acts of war.
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Many consider Israel's blockade to be on very shaky legal ground. Its status in the West Bank and Gaza is widely viewed as a belligerent occupation, despite the 2005 disengagement. Belligerent occupation is different from a true state of war and may not confer the technical right to form a blockade. Second, Sunday's incident occurred 40 miles off the coast of Gaza, well outside the traditional blockade range. Finally, Israel has allegedly been firing on Palestinian fisherman, which is absolutely illegal.
http://www.slate.com/id/2255610/ 
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