June 5, 2010

Israeli naval commandos board the FMG-IHH aid boat Rachel Corrie, carrying medical supplies and construction materials, off the Gaza coast without incident, guiding it into Ashdod port, detaining 11 activists (including Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, fmr. UN diplomat Dennis Halliday, and prominent Malaysian writer and parliamentarian Mohd Nizar bin Zakaria) and 8 crew. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah. (IFM, NYT, WP 6/6; PCHR 6/10; OCHA 6/11)