After Palestinian activists set sail on Tuesday in defiance of years of an Israeli naval blockade on Gaza, the Israeli navy stopped and seized control of the protest boat, organizers said.
The boat, carrying sick Gazans and those unable to find work, was stopped by Israeli forces several kilometers out at sea, Salah Abdel-Atti, one of the organizers, told AFP.
"Israeli forces surrounded it and intercepted it," he said, adding communications had been lost with the boat.
Gaza's Hamas rulers say the move is symbolic. It's unlikely that Israel will let the boats exceed the six-nautical-mile limit it imposes on Gaza.
"I want to make a future for myself, I want to live," said Ehab Abu Armana, 28, before he and 14 other protesters boarded the boat.
More than two million Palestinians are packed into the narrow coastal enclave. Organizers said they were seeking to highlight the impact of the blockade on these residents.
There were conflicting statements about whether the boats would seek to break Israel's blockade, which currently allows them to travel nine 16 kilometers off the coast.
Organizers said the boat was 12 nautical miles off the coast when contact was lost.
Under the Oslo Agreements of the 1990s, fishermen are supposed to be allowed to fish up to 20 nautical miles off the coast.
The expedition also marks eight years since Israeli commandos raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, killing nine pro-Palestinian Turks and sparking an international outcry against the blockade.
