Gaza journey of MV Rachel Corrie

[9] The ship is Irish-owned, and had the former Assistant UN Secretary-General Denis Halliday and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire on board.

[11][12] Israel says the blockade of Gaza is needed to prevent the infiltration of weapons and militants into the coastal territory run by Hamas, which they and much of the international community have designated a terrorist organization.

[18] Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Brian Cowen called on Israel to allow the passage of the Rachel Corrie.

[23] Trade unions and government officials had previously inspected the cargo, "so we are 100 percent confident that there is nothing that is offensive or dangerous", he told Israel's Channel 2 Television.

[24] There were eleven passengers on board the ship: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maireád Corrigan-Maguire, former UN Assistant Secretary-General Denis Halliday, film maker Fiona Thompson, husband and wife Derek and Jenny Graham and six Malaysian citizens.

[27] According to the National Post, Israeli deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai hinted that Israel had exhausted covert means of stalling the vessels.

"[28] A senior IDF officer hinted to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that someone had tampered with some of the vessels to halt them far from the Gaza or Israeli coast.

[29][30] According to UPI press coverage, the officer alluded to "grey operations" against the flotilla and said that no such action had been taken against the Mavi Marmara out of fear that the vessel might be stranded in the middle of the sea, endangering the people on board.

[6][32] After trailing the Rachel Corrie for several hours, Israeli commandos boarded the ship from speedboats at around noon on 5 June 2010, in international waters around 55 kilometres (30 nmi) off the Gaza Strip,[7] Preliminary reports indicated that there was no resistance.

Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza group, said the takeover was "another outrage to add to the nine murdered" and denied an Israeli statement that troops had been invited aboard.