Israeli Navy Boards Gaza-Bound Boat - Sky News
The Israeli military says its navy has boarded a boat carrying pro-Palestinian MPs and activists that was trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza.
The boarding happened after the passengers' "unwillingness to co-operate" and they "ignored calls to change course", the military added.
Soldiers went on to the Finnish-flagged Estelle in international waters and it was being led to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, it continued.
The military said the troops boarded the boat peacefully, and there was no harm to the passengers who were offered food and drinks.
When the boat arrives at the Ashdod port, the passengers will be transferred to the custody of the police and immigration authorities.
Victoria Strand, a spokeswoman for Ship to Gaza in Sweden, which sent the Estelle, said armed, masked soldiers boarded the boat and cut their communications 30 miles from Gaza.
She said activists on board told her six naval boats surrounded their vessel. "This is a demonstration of ruthlessness," Ms Strand said.
The Estelle is the latest in a series of activist-manned boats challenging Israel's blockade on Gaza, which was imposed after the militant group Hamas seized power of the territory in 2007.
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