Israeli Navy Forces Board French Gaza-Bound Yacht

Israeli Marines Board French Gaza-Bound Yacht

Israeli marines have boarded a yacht carrying pro-Palestinian activists heading for the Gaza Strip after warning the crew it would intercept.

Four Israeli navy ships surrounded the vessel, which is sailing a French flag, on Tuesday morning as it neared the blockaded territory. The boat is currently being towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

The Dignité-al-Karama set sail on Saturday following a troubled stay in Greece, where the government has imposed a ban on the departure of any ships involved in a Gaza-bound flotilla.

Activists on board, tweeting in both French and English at @BateauGazaFr, announced that the Dignité-al-Karama was heading for Gaza having spent the night anchored at sea on Monday.

The Dignité is carrying 13 activists and journalists, including Amira Hass, a veteran columnist with the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

It is affiliated with the Free Gaza Movement, whose aim is "to break the siege of Gaza".

However, it changed its destination in international waters, which is legal, Berlin said. It is the only boat remaining from a flotilla of 10 ships that had planned to breach Israel's blockade this summer.

Israeli deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon had warned on Monday that Israel would take decisive action on any attempt to breach its naval blockade on Gaza. "If this boat is on its way to Gaza, which is a breach of international maritime law, and tries a provocative act- yes, we shall intercept it," he told reporters in Jerusalem.

Israel has consistently vowed to block any vessels from reaching Gaza by sea. Its naval blockade has been in place since 2006 after militants there snatched an Israeli soldier.

Last year nine activists were killed during an Israeli raid on a Turkish ship trying to reach Gaza.

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