The boat was boarded shortly after midday by naval commandos from the elite
Shayetet 13 unit on the orders of IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny
Gantz after efforts to persuade activists to divert course failed. IDF
sources claim the ship was taken without incident.
IDF spokesperson Captain Barak Raz spoke with the Telegraph from Jonah Hill,
overlooking the military port at Ashdod: "After making several attempts
to communicate with the crew of the Al-Karame it became clear they were
going to continue on their route to Gaza.
"IDF navy soldiers boarded the boat in as professional a manner possible,
checked the crew and provided them with food and water. The ship was taken
quickly and as far as I understand without incident."
The yacht is currently being led by Israeli
navy ships to the port at Ashdod. There the activists will be handed over by
the IDF to the police and immigration officials.
Micky Rosenfeld, spokesperson for the Israeli police force, said that the
foreign activists would be taken to the airport and extradited immediately.
He added: "We understand there are two Israelis on-board. They will be
held at Ashdod port for questioning." Amira Hass, a prominent Israeli
journalist and outspoken critic of the Israeli occupation, is among the
passengers.
The activists report their ship was approached by three Israeli warships fifty
miles off the coast of Gaza at 10.30am local time and asked to declare their
destination. The crew's captain responded that they were heading for Gaza.
Shortly afterwards communication with fellow activists still in Athens was
cut off.
The Al-Karame, which sailed from Corfu on Monday, is the first ship in a
flotilla of 350 pro-Palestinian activists that has managed to leave Greek
waters. Flotilla activists claim Israel is behind a series of bureaucratic
restrictions and technical failures that have prevented the group from
sailing towards Gaza since early this month.
