PIRAEUS, Greece — Riot police at Greece’s largest port cordoned off an area around an Israeli cruise ship that arrived early Thursday to prevent several hundred union-backed protesters from approaching the vessel.

Protests have been held on Greek islands and at mainland ports along the route of the Crown Iris and several of them have led to clashes with police.

Unions in Greece and other European Union countries have become increasingly outspoken in their condemnation of Israel over widespread destruction and severe food shortages in Gaza.

At the port of Piraeus, near Athens, demonstrators held flares and waved Palestinian flags behind a cordon formed with riot police buses.

Protest organizers, citing online posts from travelers, said off-duty Israeli soldiers were among the passengers

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