The activists had set out to protest Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which is among the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, and its restrictions on the entry of aid.

LONDON -- The Israeli Foreign Ministry said early Monday that Israeli forces had boarded and diverted a privately owned ship carrying Swedish human rights activist Greta Thunberg and several others, who said they were attempting to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

The detained crew of the Gaza-bound aid ship that was intercepted by Israel on Monday morning was taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod Monday evening, according to Israel’s foreign ministry.