{All-female activist boat carrying aid from Spain to the Gaza Strip is taken into Israeli custody.}<\/p>\n
Israel’s navy intercepted an activist boat seeking to break the country’s decade-long blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying it was boarded without incident and was being directed to shore.<\/p>\n
The navy said in a statement on Wednesday its forces had “redirected” the sailboat in order to prevent a “breach of the lawful maritime blockade” of the Palestinian enclave.<\/p>\n
It said this was done “in accordance with government directives and after exhausting all diplomatic channels”.<\/p>\n
Thirteen women, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, were travelling aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva sailboat in the Mediterranean towards Gaza, which is run by Hamas.<\/p>\n
The Zaytouna-Oliva set sail from Barcelona in September and was carrying women of various nationalities in addition to Maguire, a Northern Ireland activist.<\/p>\n
Dubbed the “Women’s Boat to Gaza”, it is part of the wider Freedom Flotilla Coalition that consists of pro-Palestinian boats that regularly seek to go to Gaza to try to break the blockade.<\/p>\n
One such operation turned to tragedy in 2010 when Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists in a raid on a flotilla.<\/p>\n
In Wednesday’s operation, the Israeli navy said it intercepted the sailboat after advising it “numerous times to change course prior to the action”.<\/p>\n
It said its forces had boarded and searched the vessel, describing the operation as “uneventful”.<\/p>\n
The boat was now believed to be headed towards the Israeli port of Ashdod. Organisers said they had lost communication with the activists.<\/p>\n
Hamas denounced the move as “state terrorism”.<\/p>\n
Israel and Palestinian fighters in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008.<\/p>\n
Israel maintains a blockade to keep material it claims could be used for military purposes from entering the impoverished enclave of 1.9 million people.<\/p>\n
United Nations officials have called for the blockade to be lifted, saying conditions are deteriorating in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel’s military struck several Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip after a rocket launched from the Palestinian enclave hit the nearby Israeli city of Sderot, with no casualties reported on either side.<\/p>\n
A small Salafist Sunni group, which opposes Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack.<\/p>\n
Israel holds Hamas responsible for all such rocket fire and often responds with air and tank strikes, but recent responses have been stronger than in the past.<\/p>\n
A delegation from the International Criminal Court is visiting Israel and Palestine this week, its chief prosecutor said on Wednesday, against the backdrop of an investigation into the last Gaza war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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