Israel’s
defense forces have boarded a ship attempting to break through the Gaza
blockade in “a peaceful operation.” The vessel was carrying Palestinian
activists, parliamentarians and humanitarian cargo, said a mission
spokesperson.
Six
Israeli naval boats surrounded the SV Estelle’ 38 nautical miles from Gaza
while it was still in international waters.
A
spokesperson from the Israeli Department of Defense said that they were forced
to intervene after the vessel ignored numerous warnings to change course and
cooperate with the Israeli authorities.
"After
the passengers ignored calls to change course, the decision was made to board
the vessel and lead it to the port of Ashdod,” said the spokesperson, adding
that no one was injured when the marines seized control of the ship.
The
organizers of the activist mission to Gaza announced over the radio that their
vessel had come under attack shortly after it was approached by Israeli ships.
There
were about 30 people from eight countries on board, including Israeli citizens,
lawmakers from Norway, Sweden, Greece and Spain and a 79-year-old former legislator
from Canada.
The
activists are being transferred to Ashdod port where they will be handed over
to police custody and then on to the immigration authorities. Previously,
activists caught trying to break through the blockade have been deported from
Israel immediately.
The
Swedish-owned, Finnish-flagged vessel was reportedly carrying 41 tonnes of
cement, books, toys, medical equipment and two olive trees.
A senior
Defense Ministry official said that Israel was well within its rights to
“operate at sea to prevent the smuggling of arms to terror organizations,"
reported Ynet. He denounced the activists as "provocateurs who are drive
by hatred for Israel" and dismissed the “humanitarian crisis in Gaza,”
maintaining “more than 1,500 trucks carrying tons of goods enter Gaza each week
through the land crossings.”
In 2010,
Israeli forces boarded a Turkish ship attempting to force its way through the
blockade. Soldiers killed nine activists, sparking international outcry and
condemnation from the UN for use of “excessive force.”
The UN
has called for the six-year blockade on Gaza to be lifted on numerous occasions
on the grounds that it represents “a denial of basic human rights in
contravention of international law.”
Victoria
Strand, one of the organizers of the mission, calls the Israeli blockade of
Gaza “illegal and unfair.”
“We have
to challenge this siege as long as the international community does not do so.
WHO, the UN, the EU, everyone is saying that the siege is counterproductive,
but nobody is doing anything about it, so we have to take civil action against
it,” she told RT.
Strand
stressed that Israel needs to realize “the blockade is not helping anyone.”
“It does
not help people in Israel, it does not help Palestinians and it has nothing to
do with the security of Israel, because weapons are floating in through the
tunnels,” she explained, adding that Israel also blockades any export from
Gaza, meaning the Palestinians can`t produce anything.
