Closing summary
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, congratulated the Israeli army on the “quick and safe takeover” of the Madleen , the Gaza-bound aid vessel. Confirming that the passengers onboard – including climate activist Greta Thunberg and French MEP Rima Hassan – will be transported to the port of Ashdod, Katz added that he had instructed the IDF to “show the flotilla passengers the video of the horrors of the October 7 massacre.”
Adalah, a rights group in Israel that said it was representing the activists, has claimed that the 12 activists on the Madleen have not yet been brought to the country and they remain at sea. The group said Israel’s Detention Review Tribunal has confirmed that the activists are not currently in its custody and that it appears the authorities intend to deport the individuals upon arrival.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer described the cargo on the Gaza aid boat as “meagre”. Labelling the ship as a “selfie yacht”, the spokesman claimed less than a truck’s worth of aid was onboard, but said that it would be sent in to Gaza.
Sweden’s ministry of foreign affairs on Monday said that it was aware of the situation on the Madleen and following developments onboard. “The ministry of foreign affairs and the ambassador in Tel Aviv are in contact with local authorities and monitoring the situation closely,” a spokesperson said.
Aid boxes being distributed in Gaza are “simply not enough” and “cannot undo the effects of prolonged starvation”, Oxfam has said. Bushra Khalidi, policy lead at Oxfam, said the nutritional value in the boxes “fall far short of what any principled humanitarian agency with expertise in nutrition and emergency response would recommend”.
France on Monday said it would work to ensure the rapid return home of French citizens aboard a boat carrying aid bound for Gaza that was intercepted by Israeli security forces, AFP reported. President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the six French nationals aboard the Madleen “be allowed to return to France as soon as possible”, a presidential official said, asking not to be named, while foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Paris would work “to facilitate their swift return to France”.
Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s labour minister and one of the country’s three deputy prime ministers, has criticised Israel’s seizure of the boat and called for a “clear and firm response” from the EU. “I strongly condemn the seizure of the Madleen, which was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza,” she wrote on Bluesky. “This violation of international law demands a clear and firm response from the EU. All my solidarity to the volunteers who are being held. We call for their freeing as soon as possible. #AllEyesOnMadleen“
Israeli fire killed at least 12 people and wounded others as they headed toward two aid distribution points in the Gaza Strip run by an Israeli and US-backed group, Palestinian health officials and witnesses said on Sunday. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots at people who approached its forces. The past two weeks have seen frequent shootings near the new hubs where thousands of Palestinians — desperate after 20 months of war — are being directed to collect food. Witnesses say nearby Israeli troops have opened fire, and more than 80 people have been killed, according to Gaza hospital officials.
Hundreds of people, mainly Tunisians, launched on Monday a land convoy bound for Gaza, seeking to “break the siege” on the Palestinian territory, activists said. Organisers said the nine-bus convoy was not bringing aid into Gaza, but rather aimed at carrying out a “symbolic act” by breaking the blockade on the territory described by the United Nations as “the hungriest place on Earth”.
Iran said on Monday it will soon present a counter-proposal on a nuclear deal with the US, after it had described Washington’s offer as containing “ambiguities”, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear accord to replace the deal with major powers that US president Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
Iran has said it will soon start releasing information from a hoard of Israeli nuclear secrets it claims to have obtained, as European countries push for a vote this week on reimposing UN sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme. The unverified claims by Iranian intelligence of a massive leak of Israeli secrets may be designed to turn the focus away from what Iran argues is its own excessively monitored civil nuclear programme.
Palestinians inspect the damage in the rubble of the Shaheen family home, in the Saftawi neighbourhood, west of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, after it was targeted in an Israeli strike.
