Gaza aid ship enters Israeli port after being 'hijacked'

The Rachel Corrie aid ship arrived at an Israeli port yesterday after being prevented from reaching Gaza, but there was no repetition of the bloody violence that erupted when commandos stormed an aid boat earlier in the week.

The Irish-owned 1,200-tonne vessel was escorted into the southern port of Ashdod by two small naval launches some five hours after being commandeered by Israeli forces when it ignored orders not to head to Gaza.

Israel hailed the peaceful end to the operation which the military said was carried out without any injuries, while the pro-Palestinian organisers lashed out at the Jewish state, accusing it of "hijacking" the ship.

The Israeli military said its forces boarded the vessel "with the full compliance" of the crew and passengers and that there was no violence involved at all.

"Our forces boarded the boat and took control without meeting any resistance from the crew or the passengers. Everything took place without violence," a spokeswoman told AFP.

The army said the ship is carrying 11 pro-Palestinian activists and eight crew, while organisers say there are five Irish citizens on board, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, and six Malaysians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the operation.

"We saw today the difference between a ship of peace activists, with whom we don't agree but respect their right to a different opinion from ours, and between a ship of hate organised by violent Turkish terror extremists," he said.

The peaceful outcome stood in stark contrast to a botched navy operation against a six-ship flotilla earlier this week, which ended in the death of nine activists - eight Turks and a US-Turkish citizen.

But the takeover prompted a furious response from the Dublin-based Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

"For the second time in less then a week, Israeli forces stormed and hijacked an unarmed aid ship, kidnapping its passengers and forcing the ship toward Ashdod port," it said.

Army spokeswoman Avital Leibovitz insisted the operation passed off peacefully.

"They didn't storm the ship - they boarded it with the agreement" of the people on board, she told AFP, saying the boat had been taken over in international waters some 21 nautical miles northwest of Ashdod.

The operation began shortly after dawn yesterday when activists on board the vessel said they had been surrounded by Israeli naval boats. Shortly afterwards, all communications with the ship were cut.

The Irish government, which had urged Israel to allow the ship to reach Gaza, was kept informed of developments as the situation unfolded, the foreign ministry told AFP in Dublin.

The boat was carrying around 1,000 tonnes of aid and supplies, half of which was reportedly cement - a substance barred by Israel for fear it could be used for building fortifications. In Gaza City, where residents massed at the port for the ship's arrival, a senior Hamas official said the Israeli blockade was on the verge of collapse.

"We are in the last 15 minutes of the siege," Ahmed Yussef told AFP.

"There will be a lot of ships sent to Gaza by international solidarity organisations in the next few weeks in the name of justice and human rights."

Yesterday's operation came at a sensitive time for Israel, which has been diplomatically isolated after last Monday's deadly raid.