Israel has stopped a boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists from breaking the naval blockade on Gaza.
Israeli naval commandos boarded the vessel in international waters after the passengers' "unwillingness to co-operate" and they "ignored calls to change course", Israel's military said.
Soldiers went on to the Finnish-flagged Estelle in the Mediterranean Sea, about 30 miles from Gaza, and it was led to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod.
The military said the troops boarded the boat peacefully, and there was no harm to the passengers who were offered food and drinks.
The takeover was quickly denounced as "piracy" by Gaza's Hamas rulers.
The 17 passengers will be transferred to the custody of police and immigration authorities. They include five parliamentarians from Europe and a former politician from Canada.
It was also carrying a shipment of humanitarian aid and 30 doves, which were to be released on arrival in Gaza.
Victoria Strand, a spokeswoman for Ship to Gaza in Sweden, which sent the Estelle, said armed, masked soldiers boarded the boat and cut their communications 30 miles from Gaza.
She said activists on board told her six naval boats surrounded their vessel. "This is a demonstration of ruthlessness," Ms Strand said.
The military said the boarding was carried out only after "numerous calls to the passengers onboard" went unanswered.
The Estelle is the latest in a series of activist-manned boats challenging Israel's blockade on Gaza, which was imposed after the militant group Hamas seized power of the territory in 2007.
The boat left Naples, Italy, on October 7 with passengers from eight countries, carrying items such as cement, basketballs and musical instruments.
An Israeli military statement said: "The boarding was carried out in accordance with international law, with directives of the Israeli government and after all attempts to prevent the vessel from reaching the Gaza Strip were made, both via direct contact and through diplomatic channels, but to no avail."
A Hamas spokesman said: "The occupation's attack on the Estelle and its capture of the activists on board is an act of piracy and a crime against humanity."
In 2010, an Israeli naval raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla killed nine Turkish activists on board.
The incident sparked international condemnation that forced Israel to ease much of its blockade, although it maintains restrictions on key exports and imports of raw materials.
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