Free Republic

(Reuters) - The Israeli navy Tuesday seized a French yacht carrying pro-Palestinian activists heading for the blockaded Gaza Strip and forced it to go to Israel's Ashdod port, a military spokeswoman said. "I can confirm that the yacht has been boarded and that everything went smoothly, there were no casualties," the spokeswoman said after marines boarded the "Dignite-Al-Karama" yacht in the eastern Mediterranean. Chief military spokesman Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai said the passengers were transferred from the yacht to one of the warships sent to intercept it and were en route to Ashdod. The 17-passenger yacht had declared an Egyptian port...

"Gaza flotilla: 2 dead, dozens injured in navy boarding." By JPOST.COM STAFF AND YAAKOV KATZ 05/31/2010 07:00 SNIPPET: "Passengers tried to wrest weapons from soldiers, Army Radio reports; Turkish leadership in emergency meeting to discuss response to attack at sea. Passengers tried to grab weapons away from soldiers boarding the Gaza protest flotilla, starting the violence, Army Radio reported Tuesday morning, responding to accusations that Israeli commandos assaulted the ships guns blazing."