The Israeli navy seized the Zaytouna-Oliva, a Gaza-bound aid ship, on Wednesday and was towing it towards the Israeli port of Ashdod, according to the initiative’s organizers and reports in the Israeli media.
Sondos Ferwana, a spokeswoman for the International Coalition for the Fourth Freedom Flotilla, told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday evening that Israeli naval forces had “captured the ship”.
The Israeli military confirmed the ship’s seizure in a statement.
“The Israeli Defense Forces managed to quickly seize the ship without causing any injuries among passengers,” the statement said.
The military said the crew initially refused the navy’s orders to change course. “This forced us to intervene and seize the ship before it violated the legal maritime closure imposed on the Gaza Strip.”
According to reports on Israel’s Channel Two television station, the aid ship was intercepted -- without resistance -- some 80 kilometers (50 miles) off Gaza’s coast. The Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted military sources as saying the navy was preparing to tow the ship to Ashdod.
Ferwana described the incident as “another act of Israeli piracy” and said all contact with the ship -- which is carrying humanitarian aid and around a dozen female activists -- had been lost.
“We don’t know the fate of the activists aboard,” she told Anadolu Agency, adding that Israeli naval vessels had surrounded the ship to halt its progress to Gaza.
Half an hour before the boat lost contact, Anadolu Agency contacted Madeleine Habib, the ship’s captain. She said the women were in high spirits and were preparing oatmeal and boiled eggs.
She added that they expected to be detained for a few days and did not intend to accept food during Israeli detention.
In a pre-recorded video, Marama Davidson, a New Zealand lawmaker aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva, said: “We are peaceful women who stood by principles of peace and the Israeli oppression forces had no reason to kidnap us, to take us hostage. They could have just let us through to Gaza.