Huwaida Arraf, a spokeswoman for the activists, said in a statement *”there were 27 civilians on two small boats, carrying only medicine and constituted no security threat to Israel”*.
She added, *”Israel’s determination to prevent the ships from carrying
the aids for Gaza Strip is only a furtherance of its policy of collective
punishment and a violation against humanity”*.
The 27 activists on board the Canadian and Irish ships came from
Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United States, and included Palestinians and at least one Israeli Arab citizen, according to organizers.
Before the beginning of the ships’ sailing toward Gaza, The US had
urged the activists not to try to break the Israeli blockade on the coastal
enclave.
An Israeli security source said that no one was injured during the
boarding operation.
He added, *”The navy boarded the ships after all attempts to prevent
them from breaking the security blockade failed”*.
He pointed out that the Canadian *“Tahrir”* and Irish *“Saoirse”* vessels
were in international waters when the order was given to the navy to make his movement and stop them.
In 2010, an Israeli attack on a similar convoy named *”Mavi Marmara”*
resulted in nine civilian deaths. The ship was carrying 700 solidarity activists from 40 countries and materials for Gaza Strip.
Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza in 2006. The blockade purposes to
put pressure on the Hamas administration in the strip. Israel controls air and sea access to the territory. This control has turned Gaza Strip into a big prison for more than 1,5 million Palestinians.
