JERUSALEM, April 30 -- Israel's army arrested around 175 activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters off Greece, the Israeli foreign ministry and the flotilla's organisers said Thursday.

"Approximately 175 activists from more than 20 boats of the condom flotilla are now making their way peacefully to Israel," the ministry said in a statement, using its latest epithet to poke fun at the flotilla after prophylactics were found in a previous convoy.

The statement included a video of the activists aboard an Israeli navy ship.

The organisers of the latest flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel's blockade on Gaza had announced shortly beforehand that their boats were surrounded by Israeli military ...