Israeli troops boarded the boat in global waters then searched and seized it, an Israeli military statement said.
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The three other boats in the flotilla turned back, activist group Canadian Boat to Gaza said in a statement.
The activists were protesting Israel’s maritime blockade against the coastal enclave.
“There is never a more appropriate time than now for New Zealand to show leadership on the Israel-Palestine issue”.
– Calls upon the worldwide community to seriously act to compel Israeli authorities to stop the policies of collective punishment they practice against the Gaza Strip, including the tightened closure of border crossings which has impacted on the economic and social rights of the civilian population. Three other ships that were part of the original flotilla reversed course before encountering the Israeli navy.
The government of Israel apologized in 2013 for its “operational mistakes” during that raid, and a compensation deal between Israel and Turkey is still in the works.
Ghattas joined the flotilla despite violent threats and incitement from fellow lawmakers in Israel to lift his parliamentary immunity so that he could be prosecuted.
“This is a flotilla of a group of terror supporters a heinous flotilla that needs to be stopped”, Lapid added.
In a Huffington Post column on Sunday, he defended his right to take part in the flotilla.
Israel’s military said this month the killing of four Palestinian boys in an air strike on a Gaza beach was a case of mistaken identity that didn’t warrant criminal charges. It has left disastrous impacts on all aspects of life of 1.8 million Palestinians, as 70% of the Gaza Strip’s population lack food security, and they depend on food aids provided by UNRWA and World Food Programme.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu censured the activists aboard the Marianne as “hypocritical”, and accused them of assisting the Islamist Hamas rulers of the Strip while ignoring atrocities across the region. The sea blockade is in accordance with worldwide law, and has received backing from the United Nations Secretary General.
The report documents serious violations of global law and human rights abuses committed during Gaza’s seven-week war a year ago.
“I want to praise the soldiers and commanders of the navy on the steadfast and efficient operation in arresting the passengers of the boat that tried to enter the Gaza coastline against the law”, the Prime Minister’s statement said. There the Assad regime slaughters his people every day with the support of the murderous Iranian regime.
Reports say Israel has imprisoned the Marianne crew.
The inquiry was heavily criticized for bias.
The report also condemned the “indiscriminate” firing of thousands of rockets and mortars at Israel, which it said appeared to have been intended to “spread terror” among Israeli civilians.
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An earlier statement by the pro-Palestinian global Solidarity Movement said the flotilla had been led by a converted fishing trawler called the “Marianne of Goteborg”, with about 50 activists from 17 countries, including an Israeli Arab lawmaker.
