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Israeli naval vessels on Tuesday seized a French-flagged protest boat with 16 pro-Palestinian passengers as it attempted to break through Israel's sea blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials said the takeover occurred without the kind violence and bloodshed that erupted more than a year ago, when nine Turkish activists on a similar protest flotilla were shot and killed by Israeli commandos who came under attack by passengers as they dropped onto the vessel from military helicopters.

The latest protest ship, called Dignity-Al Karama, was rerouted to Israel's Ashdod port, where passengers and crew were detained. Israel vowed to transfer any humanitarian supplies carried by the ship to Gaza by land, but passengers told Israeli soldiers in a radio communication that they had no cargo.

Israeli officials expressed relief that the takeover ended without resistance, but condemned the protest flotilla as a provocation. Following last year's raid, which led to international criticism over Israel's use of deadly force, Israel relaxed restrictions on the import of most household goods into Gaza, though construction materials are still limited.

Government officials defended the naval blockade as necessary to ensure that weapons and fighters are not smuggled into the seaside enclave, which is control by the militant Islamist group Hamas.

Protest organizers, however, said Israel's blockade violates international law and has crippled Gaza's economy.

"As long as the Palestinians will not have their freedom of movement and exchange, particularly between the West Bank and Gaza, we will continue our campaigns and nonviolent actions to lift the blockade of Gaza,'' read a statement Tuesday from flotilla organizers.

The French yacht included citizens from several European nations and two Israelis, including a journalist from Haaretz newspaper. Passengers could not be reached for comment and telephone and Internet service was blocked by Israel.

The boat is the last remnant of a much-larger flotilla that got underway several months ago, including 15 boats and as many as 1,500 activists, including Americans.

But the flotilla largely ran aground in Greece, where the Greek government -- at the behest of Israel -- prevented boats from leaving its ports and intercepted one ship that attempted to sail away without permission.

Flotilla organizers also accused Israel of secretly sabotaging two vessels.

Most activists gave up and flew to their home countries. But on Sunday, Dignity passengers left Greece by declaring they were heading toward Alexendria, Egypt. In route, the captain changed directions and headed to Gaza.

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Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:
Israeli naval vessels on Tuesday seized a French-flagged protest boat with 16 pro-Palestinian passengers as it attempted to break through Israel's sea blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials said the takeover occurred without the kind violence and bloodshed that erupted more than a year ago

Of course it did. The boat was french, they probably surrendered out of habit before the Israelis even got near them :-P

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Originally Posted by Kieran Colfer:

Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:
Israeli naval vessels on Tuesday seized a French-flagged protest boat with 16 pro-Palestinian passengers as it attempted to break through Israel's sea blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials said the takeover occurred without the kind violence and bloodshed that erupted more than a year ago

Of course it did. The boat was french, they probably surrendered out of habit before the Israelis even got near them :-P

hehe

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Miles.

Well, it illustrates to me tht the IDF isnt the bloodthirsty killers depicted by the media.  I wonder if this will even be picked up by the mainstream media since it ended non violently?

Say what ya like, but I and thousand, perhaps millions of Christians are praying for peace in Israel and the defense of that nation.  Perhaps God sent his Angels to look over and protect both parties because of this prayer?  I dunno.  Wouldnt surprise me though.

(BTW...issues such as international violations should be handled diplomatically and peacefully rather than just trying to incite violence as happened last year).