Israel to intercept Irish aid ship

Israeli sources have said they will intercept an Irish ship bound for Gaza.

Israel is offering the Irish-owned MV Rachel Corrie the option of handing over its humanitarian aid to Israeli authorities or of entering Gaza via Rafah in Egypt.

Derek Graham from Ballina, Co Mayo, is onboard the MV Rachel Corrie and said neither option is viable.

Five Irish humanitarian workers detained during the Israeli raid yesterday on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza are due to leave Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport later today.

Israel has begun deporting all foreign nationals held during the incident - amid a further warning from the Government here not to use violence against an Irish-owned vessel heading for the region.

The storming of the aid flotilla came as relations between Dublin and Tel Aviv were already strained by the use of fake Irish passports in the murder of a Hamas leader in Dubai.

A leaked report says a security official at the Israeli embassy in Dublin was involved.

The Taoiseach Brian Cowen has told the Dáil he will soon decide on what action to take - as he warned Israel in the Dáil not to interfere with the MV Rachel Corrie which is en route to Gaza.

Those aboard the Rachel Corrie say they are determined to complete their mission - despite the Israeli threat to stop them.

A senior Hamas minister has admitted that the storming of the aid convoy by Israeli forces has helped publicise the Palestinian fight to lift the blockade of Gaza.

Israel says it was provoked into taking action and it has now begun deporting hundreds of activists seized in the raids.

Hamas deputy foreign minister Ahmad Yussef says the world is now watching.