Israeli naval forces seized a Swedish-flagged ship carrying much-needed aid that was headed for the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Freedom for Gaza vessel, which had 12 people and medical equipment onboard, was intercepted late on Aug. 3 and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, the Israeli military said in a statement.
The ship was part of a four-vessel Freedom Flotilla Coalition that left from Denmark in May with the aim of breaking the crushing 12-year Gaza blockade imposed by Israel and neighbouring Egypt.
Its last reported position before losing contact with the flotilla was 40 nautical miles from Gaza’s coastline, the group said in a statement on Saturday.
“We demand that the Israeli occupation forces not interfere with our unarmed yacht as we continue our voyage to Gaza to deliver our gift of much-needed medical supplies,” Dror Feiler, a spokesman for the coalition, said.
Two million people living in Gaza lack access electricity, food, healthcare and other basic services, according to the UN, with conditions in the enclave set to become “unliveable” by 2020.
Source: Al-Jazeera
