"We are a civilian aid mission, trying to break the siege into Gaza, and we are carrying humanitarian aid in accordance with international humanitarian and maritime law," he said.

Several boats of the Gaza aid flotilla were stopped and their passengers were being transferred to an Israeli port, the Israeli foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, with Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, and several European lawmakers aboard, consists of nearly 50 boats and 500 activists and is carrying a symbo...