Israel Telah Rampas Rachel Corrie

Israeli army and navy soldiers approach the Rachel Corrie on its way to Gaza in this June 5, 2010 handout photo. Israeli forces seized an Irish-owned ship bound for Gaza on Saturday, boarding the Rachel Corrie close to the Gaza shore near the Mediterranean, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

An Israeli military vessel arrives at the navy port of Ashdod in southern Israel on June 5, 2010. Israeli troops boarded the Rachel Corrie aid ship heading for Gaza, but there was no violent confrontation, a military spokeswoman said.



An Israeli man looks over the port of Ashdod in south Israel on June 5, 2010. Israeli troops boarded the Rachel Corrie aid ship heading for Gaza, but there was no violent confrontation, a military spokeswoman said.

Israeli naval ship sails in the port of Ashdod, Israel, Saturday, June 5, 2010. The Israeli military says its forces have seized a Gaza-bound aid vessel, preventing it from breaking an Israeli maritime blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory. The military says its forces boarded the 1,200-ton Rachel Corrie cargo ship from the sea, not helicopters, and that they did not encounter resistance.

An Israeli navy vessel leaves the port of Ashdod in south Israel on June 5, 2010. Israeli troops boarded the Rachel Corrie aid ship heading for Gaza, but there was no violent confrontation, a military spokeswoman said.

An Israeli navy vessel leaves the port of Ashdod in south Israel on June 5, 2010. Israeli troops boarded the Rachel Corrie aid ship heading for Gaza, but there was no violent confrontation, a military spokeswoman said.

Israel orthodox Jews look at the Mediterranean sea at the port of Ashdod June 5, 2010. The Israeli navy prepared to board another aid ship bound for Gaza on Saturday, as Washington condemned as “unsustainable” a blockade which Israel enforced earlier in the week by killing 9 people aboard a Turkish vessel. Irish and other activists on the Rachel Corrie ignored orders to divert to Israel’s Ashdod port. Should it continue to approach the Palestinian enclave, the navy would board the vessel, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

Israeli forces board Gaza-bound aid vessel

Israeli forces seized a Gaza-bound aid vessel without meeting resistance on Saturday, preventing it from breaking an Israeli maritime blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory days after a similar effort turned bloody.
The military said its forces boarded the 1,200-ton Rachel Corrie cargo ship from the sea, not helicopters.
The takeover stood in marked contrast to a violent confrontation at sea earlier this week when Israeli commandos blocked a Turkish aid vessel trying to break the blockade. At the time, Israeli commandos rappelled from helicopters and a clash with passengers left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead.
Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich says Saturday’s takeover took only a few minutes and that the vessel was being taken to Israel’s Ashdod port.
The Irish ship — named for an American college student who was crushed to death by a bulldozer in 2003 while protesting Israeli house demolitions in Gaza — was carrying hundreds of tons of aid, including wheelchairs, medical supplies and cement.
The standoff has raised international pressure on Israel to lift the 3-year-old blockade that has plunged the territory’s 1.5 million residents deeper into poverty.
Activists on board the boat, including Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan, had said they wouldn’t resist if Israeli soldiers tried to take over their vessel.
This latest attempt to breach the blockade differs significantly from the flotilla the Israeli troops intercepted on Monday, killing eight Turks and a Turkish-American after being set upon by a group of activists.
Nearly 700 activists had joined that operation, most of them aboard the lead boat from Turkey that was the scene of the violence. That boat, the Mavi Marmara, was sponsored by an Islamic aid group from Turkey, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief. Israel outlawed the group, known by its Turkish acronym IHH, in 2008 because of alleged ties to Hamas. The group is not on the U.S. State Department list of terror organizations, however.
By contrast, the Rachel Corrie was carrying just 11 passengers from Ireland and Malaysia, whose effort was mainly sponsored by the Free Gaza movement, a Cyprus-based group that has renounced violence. Nine crew were also on board.AP