Norway: Zionist entity must explain seizure of Gaza-bound boat

Norway’s Foreign Ministry calls on the Zionist regime to explain the legal grounds on which it seized a Norwegian-flagged boat taking humanitarian aid supplies to the Tel Aviv-blockaded Gaza Strip.

“We have asked the Israeli authorities to clarify the circumstances around the seizure of the vessel and the legal basis for the intervention,” a ministry spokesman said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The Israeli navy intercepted the vessel al-Awda (Return) some 60 nautical miles off the coast in international waters on Sunday.

The captain was struck on the head by the forces, who had ordered him to sail to the coastline of the Israeli-occupied territories instead, said Torstein Dahle, the head of Ship to Gaza Norway, which had organized the trip.

The ministry said that its diplomatic mission in Israel was trying to secure the release of five Norwegians who were sailing on board the vessel among 22 others. Two Israelis on board were, however, quickly released.

Dahle said al-Awda was the first Norwegian aid vessel to try to break Israel’s siege of the territory that has been in place since 2007.

SS