Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday confirmed that it intercepted a cargo boat bound for the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid and activists on board.

The ship, sponsored by the US-based Free Gaza Movement, departed from Cyprus on Monday in defiance of a sea blockade imposed by Israel upon the Palestinian enclave. The group said the vessel carried 21 pro-Palestinian activists from 11 countries, three tons of medical supplies, toys, as well as rehabilitation and reconstruction kits.

The Israeli navy contacted the boat on Monday evening and clarified that it would not be permitted to enter Gazan coastal waters due to security risks and the existing naval blockade, yet the boat continued sailing despite the warning, said the IDF in a statement.

"As a result of the actions taken by the boat crew, Israeli navy force intercepted, boarded, and took control of the boat, directing it towards Ashdod, Israel," said the statement, adding that "no shots were fired during the boarding of the boat."

"The boat crew will be handed over to the appropriate authorities. Humanitarian goods found on board the boat will be transferred to the Gaza Strip, subject to authorization," said the army.

"We have traveled from Cypriot waters to international waters and will enter Gazan waters. We've never gone anywhere near Israel," Huwaida Arraf, spokeswoman of the Free Gaza Movement, said earlier in the day, adding that the group did not seek a confrontation with the Israeli forces.

"Israel's closure of Gaza is an act of collective punishment and a blatant violation of the international law," Arraf said.

The IDF stressed that "any organization or country that wishes to transfer humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip can legally do so via the established crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip with prior coordination."

Israel sealed off the coastal strip in June 2007 when the Islamic Hamas movement, a group blacklisted by Israel as a terrorist organization, took control of the territory from its rival Fatah movement. After Israel's massive operation in Gaza earlier this year that killed over 1,400 Palestinians and destroyed over 2,400 homes, the international community has mounted its pressure on Israel to lift the siege.

(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2009)