Israel stops flotilla seeking to break Gaza blockade

ASHDOD, Israel: Israel’s navy on Monday halted a flotilla seeking to defy its blockade of Gaza without the deadly force that marred a similar attempt in 2010 and was escorting one of the vessels to shore. Among the passengers on the commandeered ship were Tunisia’s former President Moncef Marzouki and Arab-Israeli lawmaker Basel Ghattas.
A flotilla of four boats carrying pro-Palestinian activists had been seeking to reach Gaza to highlight the Israeli blockade of the territory that they called “inhumane and illegal.” Three of the boats were said to have turned back while a fourth, the Marianne of Gothenburg, was boarded by the Israeli navy and was being escorted to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The activists’ campaign came as Israel faced heavy international pressure over its actions in Gaza, with a UN report last week saying both the Jewish state and Palestinian fighters may have committed war crimes during a 50-day conflict in the besieged coastal enclave last summer.
The reconstruction of thousands of homes in Gaza destroyed during the fighting between Israel and Hamas, the territory’s de facto rulers, is yet to begin, and both Israel’s blockade and a lack of support from international donors have been blamed.
After the overnight operation to stop the flotilla, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the navy’s actions and insisted his government was right to take action against Hamas.