video transcript

The Israeli navy seized a ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists before it could reach the Gaza strip. Soundbite: Avital Liebovitch, Spokeswoman for the Israeli military saying: "We had to intercept them." Avital Liebovitch, Spokeswoman for the Israeli military says no one was hurt when marines boarded the ship after it ignored orders to turn away from Palestinian enclave. Avital Liebovitch, Spokewoman for the Israeli military spokewoman saying: "The interception was done quitly peacefully no one was hurt we offered them food and drinks and currently we are towing them to the Ashdod port where their cargo will be checked and immigration will take care of them." Amjad Al Shawa, a Palestinian activist from Gaza SOUNDBITE: Amjad Al Shawa, a Palestinian activist from Gaza saying: "We worry a lot about what will happen to those people as they were attacked by 5 Israeli military boats in the international water. we lost the connection with the boat since more than an hour." The group that organized the ship says on board, there were 30 activists from Europe, Canada and Israel, humanitarian cargo such as cement, and goodwill items such as children's books. Israel says it has maintained a tight blockade on Gaza in order to stem the smuggling of arms to Hamas. Shawa says Israel's actions result in collective punishment for the area's 1.6 million residents.