Israeli Navy boarded a Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s ship and took control of the vessel some 105 nautical miles off Gaza’s shore in the early hours of Monday, ”to redirect it in order to prevent a breach of the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
The Israeli Navy reportedly advised the vessel several times to change course, but after the crew of the Marianne refused to do so, Israeli Navy commandos ”visited and searched the vessel in international waters in order to prevent the intended breach of the maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip.”
The IDF says that no use of force was necessary, describing the process as ”uneventful.”
”The vessel is currently being escorted to Ashdod Port and is expected to arrive within 12-24 hours,” the IDF said in the statement.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a global movement with the aim of ending ”the siege of Gaza,” confirmed that the Marianne was surrounded by three navy boats and boarded at around 2 am local time, Monday.
”We have no reason to believe that Marianne’s capture was “uneventful”, because the last time the IDF said something like that, in 2012, the people on board the “Estelle” were badly tasered and beaten with clubs. Back in 2010, ten passengers of Mavi Marmara were murdered by the IDF during a similar operation in international waters,” the FFC said in a statement.
”Israel’s repeated acts of state piracy in international waters are worrying signs that the occupation and blockade policy extends to the entire eastern Mediterranean. We demand that the Israeli government cease and desist the illegal detainment of peaceful civilians travelling in international waters in support of humanitarian aid.”
World Maritime News Staff