Tel Aviv, June 30 (RHC)-- Israel has deported two top political figures who had taken part in a flotilla defying the Zionist regime's blockade of Gaza Strip. Tunisian ex-president Moncef Marzouki and European parliament member Ana Miranda were deported from the occupied territories on Monday.

On Monday, Israel seized the Marianne of Gothenburg, the Swedish-flagged vessel which was part of the Freedom Flotilla III carrying pro-Palestinian activists, including 16 foreign nationals, to Gaza. The activists wanted to highlight Israel's blockade on the Palestinian enclave, which they have called as "inhumane and illegal."

The boat was then directed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, prompting the three other vessels to turn back fearing a deadly use of force by the Israeli regime similar to what happened in 2010 to another Gaza-bound flotilla.

Israeli military said it did not use force for stopping the Marianne, but Petros Stergiou, a spokesman for the flotilla, said, "What we learned is that the Israeli navy attacked the Marianne around 100 nautical miles from the shore of Gaza."

Stergiou condemned the Israeli seizure of the flotilla in international waters, saying: "Once again, the Israeli government and its military has acted like state pirates and attacked our boat in international waters."

According to the organizers of the flotilla, the vessel was transporting medical equipment and solar panels for the besieged Gazans.