Israeli navy on Tuesday seized a French ship heading for the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel’s brutal blockade of the territory, and began towing it to shore after what the Zionist military said was an uneventful takeover.

Israeli commandoes boarded the Dignite/Al Karama, and took control of the ship as it approached the Gaza Strip. All the communications have been jammed, and activists on board can't be reached by phone or by Internet, a Press TV correspondent reported. 

The vessel left the Greek island of Kastellorizo late on Saturday following a troubled stay in Greece, after Athens imposed a ban on the departure of any ship planning to join the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla II. 

More than 300 activists from 22 countries have signed up to participate in Freedom Flotilla II. 

Members of the flotilla say the Greek government is blocking the humanitarian convoy on behalf of the Israeli regime. 

Greece has recently expanded its ties with Israel, as the two sides are currently holding preliminary talks on potential energy deals. 

The government in Gaza on Tuesday expressed strong condemnation after Israeli naval forces surrounded the lone vessel that slipped past Greece's Gaza flotilla ban, calling the move ”new Zionist maritime piracy”, and placing some of the blame on the United Nations.

Tahir al-Nunu, a spokesman for the government in Gaza, has told the AFP that the UN must take some of the responsibility as it has yet to take sanctions on Israel over its lethal attack on the Mavi Marmara ship that joined the first Freedom Flotilla last year, which has lured Israel into continuing the same ”illegal and aggressive approach”.

Nunu called on the international community to take a clear position.

He wondered: “Is the Gaza siege legal and moral or not? The answer is certainly that it is neither legal nor moral.”

He said the matter calls for ”a serious stand against Israel, away from political hypocrisy and double standards”.

Israeli soldiers intercepted the first Freedom Flotilla in late May 2010 and attacked the Mavi Marmara ship, killing nine and injuring many on board.

The Israeli military attacked the Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2010, killing nine Turkish nationals aboard the Turkish-flagged MV Mavi Marmara, and injuring about 50 other activists that were part of the team on the six-ship convoy. 

The Tel Aviv regime has ordered the Israeli navy to use all possible means to prevent the incoming international aid flotilla from reaching the Gaza Strip, but the Gaza Freedom Flotilla II organizers insist that they will push ahead with their aid mission. 

Israel laid an economic siege on Gaza in June 2007, after Hamas took control of the strip. The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip. 

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement, and the rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80 percent and 60 percent, respectively, in the Gaza Strip.