Israeli commandos have boarded a boat trying to breach Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, the military says.
The Dignite-al Karama, the sole representative of an initial 10-vessel flotilla, had earlier been warned to change course.A military spokeswoman told AFP news agency the boat had been boarded peacefully and it was being towed towards the Israeli port of Ashdod.
An anti-blockade protest group said the boat had been in international waters.
'Diplomacy exhausted' Maxime Guimberteau from A French Boat for Gaza said activists on board the Dignite-al Karama had told him they were 40 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza when the boat was surrounded by four Israeli navy ships. He said their conversation then cut off.
Responding to the news that Israeli commandos had boarded the boat, another French-based group, Platform Palestine, told the Associated Press that Israel's action clearly showed "the military logic of Israeli politics, which only speaks the language of force".
Platform Palestine said it had not been in contact with anyone on board the Dignite-al Karama.
The Hamas government in Gaza has also condemned the takeover of the vessel, AP reports.An Israeli Defence Force statement said the Dignite-al Karama had been boarded "after all diplomatic channels had been exhausted and continuous calls to the vessel had been ignored".
It said the navy had started a dialogue with the activists five hours earlier.
"Upon expressing their unwillingness to arrive at the Ashdod port, it was unequivocally necessary to board the vessel and lead it there," the statement said.
"The soldiers operated in line with procedures and took every precaution necessary... [to] avoid causing harm to the activists on board while ensuring the safety of the soldiers."
Those on board would be turned over to officials from the Israel police, the Immigration and Population Authority and the Interior Ministry at Ashdod, it said.
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