GAZA, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- An Israeli warship escorted a Gaza-bound boat of activists to Ashdod Tuesday after it illegally entered blockaded waters, officials said.
Military officials said no violence was reported when the warship took over the boat -- the Irene -- and that the Jewish activists on board the vessel were peaceful, The Jerusalem Post reported.
"It is an unfortunate fact that the Israeli Navy has to be distracted from its acts of preventing terror and weapons-smuggling to Israel's enemies and deal with this kind of provocation," a military spokesman said in a statement.
Military officials established contact with the Irene's captain "and asked him where we are headed," said Rami Elhanan, one of nine Jewish activists aboard the vessel. "We said we are headed to Gaza and sailing under the British flag."
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The Irene set sail from Cyprus Sunday, the Post said. The activists said they want to draw attention to Israel's blockade of Gaza and would not resist if stopped.
British organizer Richard Kuper said in a statement the voyage was a "symbolic act of protest" and a "symbol of the widespread support for the boat by Jews worldwide," Ma'an News Agency reported.
"The boat's cargo includes symbolic aid in the form of children's toys and musical instruments, textbooks, fishing nets for Gaza's fishing communities and prosthetic limbs for orthopedic medical care in Gaza's hospitals," the group said in a statement Monday.
Israel came under international criticism for a May commando raid on a humanitarian aid ship that resulted in nine activists being killed. Israel said its commandos were attacked by the Turkish-flagged ship's passengers and were justified in firing their guns. Israel also said some of the activists had ties to terrorist organizations.
