The Israeli military says it has begun efforts to try to stop a Libyan aid ship from reaching Gaza. The navy has made contact with the vessel, but its commandos have not boarded the ship, a spokeswoman said.
The Amalthea is expected to reach Gaza's territorial waters on Wednesday, Palestinian and Israeli reports said. The Moldovan-flagged ship, chartered by a charity run by the son of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, left a Greek port on Saturday.
It is the latest attempt to break the naval blockade on Gaza, and comes six weeks after a deadly Israeli operation which left nine Turkish activists dead.
On Monday, the Israeli military presented the results of its inquiry into the raid. It found that mistakes were made at a relatively senior level, but concluded that the use of live fire was justified.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that a "process of identification and communication" had begun with the Libyan vessel, some 100 miles (160 km) from the Gaza coast. "The Israeli navy has launched preparations and activity to stop the Libyan ship," the spokeswoman said.
An organiser of the mission told AFP news agency that the Israeli authorities had given them an ultimatum of midnight on Tuesday night to head towards the Egyptian port of El-Arish.
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