HELD AL-QUDS: The Israeli navy boarded and seized a ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists that was heading to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel's blockade, a military spokesman said.
"In the last hour an Israeli navy force intercepted, boarded and took control of the cargo boat 'Arion' ... as it was illegally attempting to enter the Gaza Strip," the spokesman said late in the afternoon.
The military said the ship, which was sailing under a Greek flag, was the same vessel known as the "Spirit of Humanity", which was sailing to Gaza to protest the Israeli blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory. The spokesman said the navy had been contacting the boat since Monday evening and warned that it would not be allowed to enter Gazan waters "because of security risks and an existing naval blockade."
After the navy boarded the converted ferry it towed the vessel toward the nearby Israeli port of Ashdod, the spokesman said, adding that the activists on board would be handed over to authorities. He said no shots were fired during the incident. The boat was sent by the US-based Free Gaza Movement, which said it was carrying a "symbolic" cargo of humanitarian aid to pressure governments and international relief groups to do more to rebuild Gaza.
Greece quickly protested the seizing of the Greek-flagged vessel, saying "we remonstrated with the Israeli side and asked for the ship, the crew and the passengers to be released immediately," foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said in a statement. "As we have said in the past, all legal activity by non-governmental organisations must enjoy freedom," he said.
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