Israel forces Madleen boat and its crew to dock in Israeli port

The Israeli military has taken a boat carrying humanitarian aid to a port in Israel after intercepting it in international waters near the Egyptian coast around early on Monday. 

The boat was carrying a civilian crew, including climate and political activist Greta Thunberg and a member of the European Parliament, Rima Hassan.

Israel called the mission a "media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity" and said the crew members were being taken to Israel where they would be deported.

The boat - called the Madleen after a fisherwoman from Gaza - was taken to the Port of Ashdod, 40km south of Israel.