clipped from: www.commondreams.org RAMALLAH - Twenty-one international peace activists were seized by Israeli naval frigates in international waters Tuesday as their boat 'The Spirit of Humanity' tried to carry humanitarian aid to Gaza.
![[Israeli navy rubber boats return to base in the southern port of Ashdod. The Israeli navy on Tuesday boarded and seized a ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists that was heading to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel's blockade, a military spokesman said. (AFP/David Buimovitch)
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"This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip," said former presidential candidate McKinney.
"President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that's exactly what we tried to do," she added.
"Our mission is a gesture to the people of Gaza that we stand by them and that they are not alone," she added.
According to an International Committee of the Red Cross report released Monday, Palestinians living in Gaza are "trapped in despair".
The report says hospitals are struggling to meet the needs of their patients due to Israel's disruption of medical supplies.