Foreign News
Israeli naval ships intercept Gaza-bound flotilla
The Israeli navy has intercepted boats carrying aid to Gaza and detained the activists aboard, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said several vessels that form part of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) had been “safely stopped” and that those aboard were being transferred to an Israeli port.
It added that the navy had told the vessels to change course as they were “approaching an active combat zone”.
The GSF described the interception as “illegal” and “not an act of defence” but “a brazen act of desperation”.
The group has alleged that one vessel within the flotilla was “deliberately rammed at sea” and said additional boats were hit by water cannons.
“It clearly reveals the extreme lengths to which the occupier will go to ensure Gaza remains starved and isolated,” GSF wrote on social media.
“They will attack a peaceful civilian mission because the success of humanitarian aid means the failure of their siege.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the flotilla had been informed it was “violating a lawful naval blockade” that covers the waters next to Gaza – though it is unclear if the boats had entered the blockade zone.
It posted footage from the interception showing Thunberg sitting on the deck of a boat, being handed water and a jacket by a member of the Israeli military.
Livestreams from the boats suggest not all of the 44 vessels have been boarded and evacuated.
The Israeli government, which has branded the GSF’s attempt to transport humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza as “provocation”, said: “Greta and her friends are safe and healthy.”
The GSF said multiple ships including the Alma, one of the main vessels, as well as the Surius and the Adara, had been intercepted and boarded.
Prior to that, it accused the Israeli military of “intentionally damaging ship communications, in an attempt to block distress signals and stop the livestream of their illegal boat boarding”.
It said the flotilla had been 70 nautical miles from Gaza’s shoreline when the intervention had occurred. The group had hoped its vessels would arrive in Gaza on Thursday morning.
People have gathered Greece, Italy, Tunisia and Turkey to protest Israel’s interception of the flotilla.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has expelled all remaining Israeli diplomats from the country in response to the interception, and denounced it as an “international crime by Netanyahu”.
Petro also terminated Colombia’s free trade agreement with Israel, which has been in place since 2020, and called for the release of two Colombians who were aboard the flotilla.
Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris called the reports “concerning” and said he expects Israel to uphold international law, with at least seven Irish citizens among the detained, including Sinn Féin senator Chris Andrews.
Israel has already blocked two attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza, in June and July.
While the Israeli government has characterised the flotilla as a “selfie yacht”, Thunberg has pushed back against that criticism, telling the BBC on Sunday: “I don’t think anyone would risk their life for a publicity stunt.”
International aid agencies have been attempting to get food and medicine into the Palestinian territory but note Israel is restricting the flow of supplies.
Israel claims it is attempting to stop those supplies falling into the hands of Hamas. It and the US have backed an alternative food distribution system, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) which the UN refuses to co-operate with, describing its set-up as unethical.
A UN-backed group confirmed last month that there was famine in Gaza and the UN’s humanitarian chief said it was the direct result of Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of aid entering the territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called this an “outright lie”.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a statement that France had ensured “that any possible boarding operation would take place under the best possible security conditions”.
Italy’s foreign minister said he had been reassured by Israel that its armed forces would not use violence against the 500 people aboard, including French and Italian politicians.
Antonio Tajani said: “The boarding was planned, we are talking about it… with [Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon] Saar so that there would be no violent actions on the part of the Tel Aviv armed forces, and this has been assured to me.”
Simon Harris, Ireland’s tánaiste (deputy prime minister), said his country “expects international law to be upheld and all those on board the flotilla to be treated in strict accordance with it”.
In Gaza, Israel is stepping up its assault on Gaza City as Hamas weighs its response to a new US plan to end the war. Arab and Turkish mediators are understood to be pressing Hamas for a positive response, but a senior Hamas figure has said the armed group is likely to reject it.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a final warning to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the city to evacuate southwards, saying those who remained during the offensive against Hamas would be “terrorists and supporters of terror”.
The International Committee of the Red Cross stated that “under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected whether they stay or leave Gaza City”.
[BBC]
A drone attack on the town of Kalogi, in Sudan’s South Kordofan region, is said to have hit a kindergarten and killed at least 50 people, including 33 children.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group battling the army in Sudan’s civil war, was accused of Thursday’s attack by a medical organisation, the Sudan Doctors’ Network, and the army.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF.
The RSF in turn accused the army of hitting a market on Friday in a drone attack in the Darfur region, on a fuel depot at the Adre border crossing with Chad.
Sudan has been ravaged by war since April 2023 when a power struggle broke out between the RSF and the army, who were formerly allies.
The reports could not be verified independently.
According to the army-aligned foreign ministry, the kindergarten was struck twice with missiles from drones.
Civilians and medics who rushed to the school were also attacked, it added.
Responding to reports of the attack in Kalogi, a spokesman for the UN children’s agency Unicef said: “Killing children in their school is a horrific violation of children’s rights.”
“Children should never pay the price of conflict,” Sheldon Yett added.
The agency, he said, urged “all parties to stop these attacks immediately and allow safe, unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to reach those in desperate need”.
The RSF accused the army of attacking the Adre crossing because it was used for the “delivery of aid and commercial supplies”.
According to the Sudan War Monitor, a group of researchers tracking the conflict, the attack caused civilian casualties and significant damage to a market.
The military did not immediately comment on the reports from Darfur.
Wedged between Sudan’s capital Khartoum and Darfur, the region made up of North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan has been a frontline in the civil war.
The battle for the Kordofans – which have a population of almost eight million – has intensified as the army pushes towards Darfur.
[BBC]
Border clashes have erupted again between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban forces, with each sides accusing the other of breaking a fragile ceasefire.
Residents fled the Afghan city of Spin Boldak overnight, which lies along the 1,600-mile (2,600 km) border between the two countries.
A medical worker in the nearby city of Kandahar told BBC Pashto that four bodies had been brought to a local hospital. Four other people were wounded. Three were reportedly wounded in Pakistan.
There has been sporadic fighting between the two countries in recent months, while Afghanistan’s Taliban government has also accused Pakistan of carrying out air strikes inside the country.
Both sides have confirmed they exchanged fire overnight but each blamed the other for initiating the four hours of fighting.
Mosharraf Zaidi, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accused the Taliban of “unprovoked firing”.
The statement continued: “An immediate, befitting & intense response has been given by our armed forces. Pakistan remains fully alert & committed to ensuring its territorial integrity & the safety our citizens.”
Meanwhile, a Taliban spokesperson said Pakistan had “once again initiated attacks” and said it was “forced to respond”.
Residents on the Afghan side of the border said the exchange of fire started at around 22:30 (18:00 GMT) on Friday.
Footage from the area showed a large number of Afghans fleeing on foot and in vehicles.
Ali Mohammed Haqmal, head of Kandahar’s information department, said Pakistan’s forces had attacked with “light and heavy artillery” and civilian homes had been hit by mortar fire.
The latest clashes came less than two months after both sides agreed to a ceasefire mediated by Qatar and Turkey.
It ended more than a week of fighting in which dozens were killed – the worst clashes between Pakistan and the Taliban since the group returned to power in 2021 – though tensions have remained high.
The government in Islamabad has long accused Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban of giving shelter to armed groups which carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Taliban government denies the accusation and has accused Pakistan of blaming others for their “own security failures”.
The Pakistan Taliban have carried out at least 600 attacks on Pakistani forces over the past year, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
Last week delegations from both sides met in Saudi Arabia for a fourth round of negotiations on a wider peace settlement, but did not reach an agreement.
Sources familiar with the talks told BBC News that both sides had agreed to continue with the ceasefire.
[BBC]
Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, after Israel was allowed to compete.
They were among a number of countries who had called for Israel to be excluded over the war in Gaza, as well as accusations of unfair voting practices.
Spanish broadcaster RTVE led calls for a secret ballot on the issue at a meeting in Geneva. It said organisers denied that request – a decision that “increased [our] distrust of the festival’s organisation”.
Ireland’s RTÉ said it felt that its “participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk.”
Spain is one of Eurovision’s “Big Five” countries along with France, Germany, Italy and the UK.
Their artists are allowed straight into the final, as their broadcasters provide the largest financial contribution to the EBU.
Approximately 50 broadcasters, including the BBC, attended a meeting of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on Thursday to discuss the future of the contest, which is watched by more than 150 million people each year.
They were asked to back new rules intended to discourage governments and third parties from organising voting campaigns for their acts, after allegations that Israel unfairly boosted its entrant, Yuval Raphael, this year.
BBC News understands that voting to accept those measures was tied to a clause whereby members agreed not to proceed with a vote on Israel’s participation.
“This vote means that all EBU Members who wish to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 and agree to comply with the new rules are eligible to take part,” the EBU said.
[BBC]
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