ISRAELI gunboats intercepted an aid ship bound for the besieged Gaza Strip yesterday, forcing it to divert to an Israeli port.Israeli forces surrounded and boarded the Swedish converted trawler Marianne in international waters.
The three other vessels in the flotilla received a distress call from the crew of the Marianne at about 2am that three Israeli gunboats had surrounded her about 100 nautical miles off Gaza. They then lost contact with the trawler.
Just after 5am the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) announced that they had “visited and searched” the Marianne and detained everyone on board.
While international attention focuses on ceasefire frameworks, Israel is openly advancing plans for a permanent expansion of its control over Gaza, writes RAMZY BAROUD
Israeli media awash with leaks and rumours of Netanyahu’s plans to seize Gaza. Meanwhile, the unrelenting siege of Gaza continues unabated
This time it is joined by famed Amazon union organiser Chris Smalls and the new vessel, the Handala, will carry baby formula for Gaza’s starving children just weeks after Israeli forces abducted the Madleen’s crew in international waters, reports ANA VRACAR


