Israel stops ship trying to break blockade

ISRAELI naval commandos yesterday took over a French ship attempting to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, reporting no resistance during the takeover in international waters.

The navy boarded the ship after the 16 pro-Palestinian activists onboard ignored calls to change course.

The military has said it will stop any attempt to break the sea blockade of Gaza, which Israel imposed four years ago to prevent arms smuggling to Gaza’s ruling Hamas group. It said the vessel, the Dignity al-Karama, would be taken to Ashdod, a southern Israeli port.

Last year, Israeli naval officials clashed with activists on a Turkish ship trying to reach Gaza, killing nine Turkish activists. Both sides said they acted in self-defence.

The deadly clash drew harsh international criticism, forcing Israel to ease its land blockade of Gaza, but the naval embargo has remained intact.

The navy has been preparing for months for the arrival of a new flotilla, and had adopted new tactics to avoid bloodshed.

The Dignity al-Karama is the only ship remaining from a larger protest flotilla that had hoped to sail weeks ago but was blocked by Greek authorities.

Sixteen activists and journalists are aboard the French-based ship. They said they had no aid on board and that their mission was meant to make a “political statement” against the Israeli blockade.

A spokesman for a group called A French Boat for Gaza, Maxime Guimberteau, said that he was in contact with activists aboard the ship earlier yesterday and they told him that four Israeli navy ships had surrounded the ship.

He said the vessel was about 65 kilometres off Gaza in international waters in the Mediterranean and that his conversation with the boat was cut off.

Israel imposed the embargo in 2007 after Hamas militants seized control of Gaza. It says the measure is needed to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas, but critics say the blockade has failed to weaken the militant group and instead has hurt the territory’s economy, collectively punishing its 1.6 million people.

With the land blockade greatly eased, large amounts of consumer goods now flow into Gaza. But restrictions remain on construction materials, which are sorely needed to repair damage caused by an Israeli military offensive two years ago.

Israel says items like metal, cement and glass could be diverted for military purposes, and has approved individual construction projects in coordination with the international community.

In its warning, the navy notified the ship that any supplies it might have onboard could be transferred legally to Gaza through an Israeli port and then across Israeli-controlled land crossings.