By: http://english.pnn.ps/
Source: Palestine News Network
Marianne of Gothenburg, the humanitarian aid boat of Freedom Flotilla III coalition, which headed to Gaza Strip from Sweden was approached by three Israeli military boats early on Monday in international waters and then intercepted by IOF.
Marianne was in international waters when it was approached by the Israeli navy boats. After a while, it was confirmed by the initiative that the vessel was intercepted by Israeli military and was being deported to Ashdod port.
Daily Sabah’s Emre Başran wrote that when the contact with the vessel was lost because of the jammer-equipped Israeli boats, the foundation published a press release about the situation aboard.
“At 00.57 (GTM+2) we had our last contact with Ship to Gaza’s trawler Marianne of Gothenburg. We were informed that the three military vessels who identified themselves as Israeli navy, has now moved even closer. The distance was estimated to 500 meters. The position was located to 31° 43′ North, 32° 33′ East, about 105 nautical miles from the destination Gaza city,” the press release read.
The boat that sailed off from the port of Gothenburg was carrying humanitarian aid and solar panels as the strip lacks electricity and is blockaded by Israel.
Activists aboard Marianne have made a series of pre-recorded videos on Youtube, using the hashtag #SOSFreedomFlotilla. The videos showed reactions to Israel breaking the international law, again, in multiple languages.
One participant in the video series said that “Israel took [them] as prisoners acting like pirates. Again, they have prevented us from reaching Palestine.”
The speaker called on people to take action, promising to go back to Gaza and break the Israeli siege.
