BOISE -- Promising news is reaching the family of a Boise native who was onboard a ship in the Mediterranean Sea that was raided by Israeli commandos.
Fatima Mohammadi's aunt tells NewsChannel 7 that her niece is being held in an Israeli prison, but is being treated okay.
The U.S. State Department told Fatima's family that she signed an order of deportation and is expected to return to Chicago in two days.
Fatima Mohammadi was part of a flotilla carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists to Gaza. At least nine people were killed when Israeli commandos clashed with activists after boarding the ship Monday.
The Israeli government says the confrontation started when commandos were attacked by those on the ship and were only defending themselves, but exactly who is to blame for sparking the violence was still in dispute Tuesday.
When the ship was raided, Fatima was in a Web chat with her fiancée. Her last chat message said that she could see helicopters.
Mohammadi grew up in Boise, is a Boise State University graduate, and worked as a public defender for Ada County. She now lives in Chicago, Illinois.
According to international press reports, the ship carrying Fatima was part of a convoy of six ships that were traveling through international waters to bring relief aid to some of the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza.
Fatima's mother says her daughter went with a Turkish humanitarian group that planned to provide food and supplies to people in Gaza. Fatima Mohammadi has been to Gaza twice for humanitarian missions before. Her mother says she tried to talk her out of going again because she feared something dangerous could happen.
"I just want her to come home. If they deport her, fine," said Teresa Mohammadi. "I just want them to let them go. Let them go home to their families. They've already lost lives; they already have a lot of them in hospitals. I just want them to come home."
According to a blog that Fatima Mohammadi has been writing, she said hundreds of volunteers from more than 30 countries were on the convoy.
She also said it was an "unarmed humanitarian convoy," but the Israeli Navy showed video of what it said were weapons confiscated during the raid on the ship.
Turkey, which unofficially supported the flotilla, called the Israeli raid a "bloody massacre" and demanded that Washington condemn the raid. The White House has reacted cautiously, calling for disclosure of all the facts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
