Gaza aid flotilla: more than a dozen vessels intercepted by Israeli forces; Greta Thunberg arrested – live | Middle East and north Africa

Sam Jones

Spain’s labour minister and deputy prime minister, Yolanda Díaz, described the attack on the flotilla as “a crime against international law” and demanded that Israel immediately release those it had detained.

Writing on Bluesky, she added: “The EU needs to break off relations with Israel right now.”

Spain’s foreign ministry issued a statement late on Wednesday night, pointing out that the flotilla was a “a peaceful and humanitarian civil society initiative” and calling for the “physical integrity and rights” of the Spanish citizens aboard the flotilla to be respected. The statement concluded: “Spain will continue to demand an end to the war in Gaza, the massive entry of humanitarian aid, the release of all Israeli hostages, and the implementation of the two-state solution: Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security.”

It has turned 9am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv and here’s a recap of the overnight news on Israel’s interception of the aid flotilla approaching Gaza’s coast.

• Israeli forces stopped at least a dozen boats carrying foreign activists and aid bound for Gaza but 30 boats were continuing to sail towards the Palestinian territory, organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla said on Thursday.

• Flotilla boats were about 70 nautical miles off Gaza’s coast when they were intercepted overnight but organisers remained defiant, saying the flotilla “will continue undeterred”. Thirty boats were still sailing towards Gaza, they posted on Telegram early on Thursday, and were 46 nautical miles away from their destination. A total of 15 boats had been intercepted or stopped as of early Thursday, according to the flotilla’s ship tracking data.

• Greta Thunberg was seen earlier sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers in a video from the Israeli foreign ministry verified by Reuters. The Swedish climate campaigner is the most prominent of the pro-Palestinian flotilla’s passengers, while others include Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela. The aid flotilla consists of more than 40 civilian boats with about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists.

• The Israeli foreign ministry said on X: “Several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port. Greta and her friends are safe and healthy.”

• The flotilla put out videos on Telegram with messages from individuals aboard, some holding their passports and saying they had been abducted and taken to Israel against their will, and reiterating their mission was a non-violent humanitarian cause.

• The flotilla’s organisers denounced what it called Israel’s “illegal” raid as a “war crime”, saying the military used aggressive tactics, including water cannon, but that no one was harmed. The organisers said their communications had been scrambled, including the use of a live camera feed from some of the boats.

• Israel repeatedly warned the flotilla to turn back, saying it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful blockade. It offered to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza. Israeli officials repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt.

• Turkey’s foreign ministry said the Israeli “attack” on the flotilla was “an act of terror” that endangered the lives of innocent civilians. Spontaneous protests broke out across Italy in response to the raid. Protests were also reported in Brussel, Athens, Buenos Aires and Berlin, while the Spanish government called on Israel to protect the safety and rights of activists.

• Turkey said steps had begun for Israel to release Turks and others onboard, while Spain called on Israel to protect the safety and rights of activists and Ireland said the flotilla was “a peaceful mission to shine a light on a horrific humanitarian catastrophe”.
  With agencies

Across Gaza, Israeli forces killed at least 46 people, including 36 in Gaza City, Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Wednesday.

Those included at least seven people – first responders among them – who were killed when two Israeli strikes minutes apart hit a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, according to Al-Ahli hospital, where the casualties were taken. Officials there said more than three dozen people were wounded.

Five Palestinians were killed later in a strike on people gathered around a drinking water tank elsewhere in Gaza City, the hospital said.

The AP also reports that strikes in central Gaza killed another eight people, according to Al-Awda hospital.

Another strike hit a tent in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, seriously wounding two people, according to hospital officials.

Earlier on Wednesday at the same hospital, dozens of people attended a funeral service for a Palestinian freelance journalist, Yahya Barzaq. He was killed on Tuesday along with five other people in an airstrike while working for Turkish broadcast outlet TRT.

More than 189 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the outbreak of the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.