Gaza

Sept. 2 (UPI) — A flotilla of boats loaded with medical supplies and food and carrying climate justice advocate Greta Thunberg has departed Spain for Gaza with aims to break Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

The convoy left Barcelona Monday, according to a statement from the Global Sumud Flotilla posted to its Instagram account.

“We are united in our mission to break the siege, deliver aid and open a people’s humanitarian corridor,” it said.

“When the world stays silent, we set sail.”

The mission departed following a one-day delay due to strong winds. A sea trial had been conducted Sunday, but faced with 30-knot winds, the flotilla postponed the launch to protect its smaller boats.

According to Global Sumud Flotilla, its mission is to “break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza” and demonstrate that its blockade of the Palestinian enclave is “collective punishment of a civilian population.”

The flotilla is expected to consist of 50 boats, with a second launch scheduled for Thursday from Tunis, Tunisia.

“Each departure will see dozens of boats carrying medical supplies, nutritional aid, and solidarity crews, converging in the Mediterranean before attempting to reach Gaza,” Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement earlier this month.

The flotilla said hundreds of activists from more than 45 countries, including Thunberg, were a part of the first launch.

In a recorded statement published online ahead of the launch, Thunberg said that, along with delivering humanitarian aid, they are bringing a message of hope to Palestinians, showing that the world has not forgotten about them.

“We have to be very clear that Palestinians do not need anyone to come to their rescue. We don’t just need aid and food to be delivered to Gaza, we need an end to the occupation, we need an end to the apartheid system and we need an end to the genocide,” she said.

“And we need justice and freedom for everyone, from the river to the sea.”

Israel has enforced a land, sea and air blockade of Gaza since Hamas’ takeover of the enclave in 2007. The blockade has further been tightened since the Iran-backed militia’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began to allow aid into the country in May following a three-month prohibition, but international organizations say it is not enough.

On Friday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Gaza was “on a descent into a massive famine.”

“They all need food,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters. “The entire Gaza Strip needs food. There would not have been a declared famine had there been sufficient amounts of food.”

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, nearly 350 Palestinians, including 127 children, have died of starvation, a situation widely attributed to Israel.

UNWAR Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement Aug. 22 that “This is starvation by design and manmade by the government of Israel.”

Israel has denied the allegation.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, as well as former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on allegations of using starvation as a method of warfare.

Israel is rewriting the rules of the game in the Middle East, not through diplomacy, peace treaties, or multilateral negotiations, but by deploying advanced military tools such as drones, guided missiles, cyberattacks, and cross-border intelligence operations. This aggressive approach, often justified under the banner of “self-defense,” goes beyond defense in practice and has resulted in a violent reconfiguration of the region’s political geography. While the United States should strategically focus on containing China, competing in technology, and maintaining dominance in the Asia-Pacific, Israeli policies have dragged Washington into a quagmire of costly and unending conflicts in the Middle East. This situation has not only undermined regional stability but has also jeopardized America’s global standing. Furthermore, this fragmented and chaotic Middle East demands greater energy and resources from the U.S., offering an opportunity for other actors to exploit this disorder to expand their influence.

Israel and the Violent Redesign of Middle Eastern Geography

Over the past decade, Israel has significantly altered its approach to perceived security threats. Rather than relying on diplomatic tools or classical deterrence, it has embraced a strategy that can best be described as a violent redesign of the Middle East’s geography. This strategy includes a combination of targeted assassinations, precision bombings, sophisticated cyberattacks, and deep intelligence operations inside neighboring countries. While the stated objective is to neutralize threats from actors like Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, resistance groups in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen, and Palestinian resistance movements, the actual result has gone far beyond defense, raising fundamental questions about the territorial sovereignty of other nations in the region. 

    Israel’s repeated strikes on targets in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, and most recently inside Iran, have not only violated national sovereignty but rendered traditional red lines—defined by international treaties—virtually meaningless. These actions send a clear message to the region: in the new Middle East order, borders are no longer defined through diplomatic agreements but by military power and the flight paths of drones and missiles. What we are witnessing today in the Middle East surpasses traditional conflicts or conventional warfare. Israel is creating a new missile-based order in which the rules of engagement are dictated not by negotiations or international treaties, but by military and technological superiority. In this new order, drones and guided missiles have become tools for rewriting the region’s political and military boundaries. Although this strategy is ostensibly designed to secure Israel, it has in practice contributed to the growing instability across the region.

    The message of this new order to regional actors is unmistakably clear: deterrence is no longer achieved through diplomacy or conventional state armies. In the absence of coordinated responses from regional governments, non-state resistance groups have emerged as the only effective counterforce to these aggressions. Groups like the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza—despite their ideological and political differences—share one common goal: resisting Israel’s military and intelligence dominance. This decentralized, networked resistance has posed an unprecedented challenge to Israel. Unlike traditional wars fought in defined battlefields with clear enemies, these confrontations lack both fixed timelines and geographic clarity. Even Israel’s most advanced defense systems, such as the Iron Dome, face limitations in confronting these diffuse and asymmetric threats.

A Geopolitical Challenge for Washington

The strategic and political alignment between the United States and Israel has elevated this from a regional crisis to a global challenge for Washington. At a time when the U.S. should be allocating its resources to compete with China, secure maritime routes in the Asia-Pacific, protect Taiwan, and drive technological innovation, it is now forced to spend a significant share of its time, resources, and international credibility managing the fallout of Israeli policies. America’s unwavering support for Israel, from advanced arms sales to diplomatic cover at the UN Security Council and intelligence cooperation, has made it an active partner in this new missile order. Every Israeli strike on Iranian, Lebanese, Syrian, or Iraqi territory, directly or indirectly, implicates the United States. Israel’s recent attacks on Iran, Syria, Yemen, and deep inside Iraq have compelled Washington to again bolster its military presence in the region. The more America is drawn into managing Middle Eastern crises, the less it can concentrate on global rivalries, especially with China.

    This dynamic is particularly costly at a time when the U.S. is attempting to rebuild its image among countries of the Global South. Across the Islamic world—from North Africa to Central Asia—Israeli actions are viewed not as defensive, but as acts of aggression and occupation. Since the U.S. stands fully behind Israel, this animosity is directly projected onto Washington. Even America’s traditional allies in the Persian Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are now distancing themselves from U.S. favoritism and moving toward engagement with other powers like China and Russia.

    One of the most consequential outcomes of this new missile order is the shift in regional discourse. Whereas peace and negotiation were once regarded as primary means of conflict resolution, power now defines the regional order. Through its actions, Israel has demonstrated that the rules of engagement are no longer based on international agreements or even traditional diplomatic norms but on military and technological capability. This shift has not only militarized the region further but also placed the United States in a difficult position. While Washington tries to present itself as a mediator for peace and a guardian of global stability, its unconditional support for Israel has severely tarnished that image.

    Some analysts in Washington may still argue that Israel is America’s first line of defense in the Middle East. However, that view—rooted in Cold War logic—no longer aligns with the geopolitical realities of the 21st century. If this “defense” leads to expanded conflict zones, intensified regional hostilities, and a stronger axis of resistance, it can no longer be considered a strategic asset. Israel has become a liability that holds American geopolitics hostage. The costs of this situation are multifaceted: military costs to sustain a regional presence; political costs from losing credibility in international institutions; missed opportunities in competing with China; and the growing influence of other powers in the security vacuum of the Middle East.
    The fundamental question for American policymakers is this: is the United States prepared to sacrifice its 21st-century geopolitical future for unconditional loyalty to a single ally? However strategically important Israel may be, it cannot alone justify America’s deviation from its global priorities. It is time for Washington to redefine its support for Israel—not based on historical habit or domestic pressures, but grounded in long-term national interest. This redefinition could include pressuring Israel to return to diplomacy, scale back aggressive actions, and strengthen regional cooperation. Without such a shift, Israel’s new missile order will not only further destabilize the Middle East but also place the United States on a trajectory where the costs far outweigh the benefits.

Sept. 1 (UPI) — The International Association of Genocide Scholars on Sunday passed a resolution accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, which Israeli officials deny.

The IAGS resolution cites U.N. statistics that claim more than 59,000 adults and children have died in Gaza without citing how many are Hamas casualties and not civilian casualties.

“The government of Israel has engaged in systemic and widespread crimes against humanity, including indiscriminate and deliberate attacks against the civilians and civilian infrastructure of Gaza,” the IAGS resolution says.

“These crimes are estimated to have left many thousands of people buried under the rubble or otherwise inaccessible and most probably dead.”

Alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity

The IAGS accuses the Israeli government of torture, arbitrary detention and sexual and reproductive violence, including “deliberate attacks on medical professionals, humanitarian aid workers and journalists.

It also says Israel deliberately has deprived Gazans of food, water, medicine and electrical services that are necessary for survival.

The IAGS resolution says Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza “constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.”

It calls on the Israeli government to immediately end all acts that “constitute genocide and war crimes.”

The IAGS also wants the International Criminal Court to surrender any individuals who are subject to arrest warrants, which would include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The IAGS describes itself as a “global, interdisciplinary, non-partisan organization that seeks to further research and teaching about the nature, causes and consequences of genocide and advance policy studies on genocide prevention.”

Israeli government denies genocide accusation

“The statement of the International Association of Genocide Scholars is an embarrassment to the legal profession and to any academic standard,” officials for Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on X on Saturday night.

“It is entirely based on Hamas’s campaign of lies and the laundering of those lies by others,” the Israeli officials continued.

“Above all, the IAGS has set a historic precedent — for the first time, ‘Genocide Scholars’ accuse the very victim of genocide.”

Netanyahu denied allegations of genocide during a 2024 address to Congress and said Hamas uses civilians as human shields in violation of international law.

Israel drops leaflets and sends texts in locations targeted for military action to warn civilians to leave, but Hamas won’t let them leave or seek shelter in its extensive tunnel system beneath Gaza, he said.

“They even shoot their own people when they try to get out of the way,” Netanyahu told the joint session of Congress. “They want Palestinian civilians to die.”

He also accused Hamas of stealing humanitarian aid intended for civilians.

The prime minister said the Israeli military has the lowest combatant-to-non-combatant casualty ratio in military history.

Hamas accused of falsifying casualty data

Tablet Magazine in March 2024 reported that the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry distributes false casualty figures.

A statistical analysis of casualty reports showed relatively little change in the numbers of women and children reported dead, instead of wide variations.

Soon after Tablet published its report, the United Nations revised down its estimates of women and children killed from 69% to 52%.

The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between Hamas casualties and those of Gazan civilians.

The United Nations also acknowledged it had incomplete information and adjusted down its reports of deaths among women and children in Gaza, the BBC reported.

Media outlets have staged a front page protest to highlight the killings of more than 200 journalists in 22 months.

More than 250 media outlets in over 70 countries have staged a front page protest highlighting the killing of more than 200 journalists in Israel’s war on Gaza, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) media freedom group says.

“At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no-one left to keep you informed,” the group’s general director, Thibaut Bruttin, said in a statement on Monday.

The protest, also supported by the global campaign movement Avaaz, was featured on the websites of news outlets including Al Jazeera, the British newspaper The Independent, French newspapers La Croix and L’Humanite, and the German newspapers Tageszeitung and Frankfurter Rundschau, according to RSF.

About 220 journalists have been killed during Israel’s war in Gaza since it began on October 7, 2023, according to RSF data. Independent analysis by Al Jazeera reveals that at least 278 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel over the past 22 months, including 10 from the network.

Monday’s protest was staged a week after five journalists – Al Jazeera’s Mohammad Salama, Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri, freelance journalist Mariam Abu Daqqa working for The Associated Press, Ahmed Abu Aziz and Moaz Abu Taha – were killed in two Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Earlier in August, six journalists, including Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif, were killed in an Israeli air strike on a tent sheltering media workers outside the main gate of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital. The strike targeted al-Sharif.

In total, seven people were killed in the attack, including three other Al Jazeera staff – correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, 33, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, 25, and Mohammed Noufal, 29.

Those participating in the protest “demand an end to impunity for Israeli crimes against Gaza’s reporters, the emergency evacuation of reporters seeking to leave the Strip and that foreign press be granted independent access”, the RSF statement said.

The media group said it has filed four complaints at the International Criminal Court for war crimes it said the Israeli army has committed against journalists in Gaza.

International media have been denied free access to the Gaza Strip since the war broke out.

A few selected outlets have embedded reporters with Israeli army units operating in Gaza under the condition of strict military censorship.

Israel has killed at least 63,459 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

The two foreign ministers presented their argument in the letter directed at EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas. They contended that the EU should impose carefully planned sanctions on Israeli government ministers and settlers of the West Bank. In addition, they demanded simultaneously new sanctions against the Hamas leadership in Gaza. The letter was dated August 27. It called on the EU to act fast. The ministers emphasized that restrictions should be imposed on those people who will encourage illegal settlement activity. Moreover, they further cautioned that ministers who act against a two-state solution need to be held answerable.

The West Bank, which is left in a state of occupation, has seen Israelis perpetrating recurrent incursions against the Palestinians. Maria Malmer Stenergard, the Swedish Foreign Minister, has been talking about it for months. She has called for sanctions on far-right Israeli cabinet officials since May. A big number of them advocate apparent annexation of Palestinian territory. This was announced by Stenergard on Thursday in Swedish public radio:sanctions need to cause such ministers to face difficulties. Her words emphasize an augmented annoyance of the situation in Europe as Israel continues to advance settlements.

The Dutch standing too has become hard. But action was postponed by internal quibbling. Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp quit last week. He was unable to give national sanctions against Israel through his cabinet. He was recently superseded by Ruben Brekelmans, who co-signed the new letter.

The ministers went further. They insisted on cessation of the commercial part of the EU-Israel association deal. However, free trade in many areas such as agriculture and industry is allowed in this agreement. Falling victim to cutting off this benefit would cost Israel extremely economically. Over the years, opponents have claimed that Israel cannot be provided with preferential trade access as it continues to expand settlements on the occupied territory. Conserving this, the Swedish and Dutch ministers now want to make that argument into policy.

In the letter, the focus is not solely on Israel. The EU foreign services are required to present additional propositions to pressurize Hamas. The organization already managing the Gaza Strip is declared as a terrorist organization by the EU and a few of the Western states.

Nevertheless, the ministers insist there is still a need for further sanctions. They are worried that Hamas continues being an important factor in the struggle. They would like to add an additional stress layer by attacking the political hierarchy of Hamas.

Furthermore, the position adopted by Pakistan is unambiguous. Pakistan identifies with the entire community of states that champion humanity, justice, and long-term peace. The foreign policy has stood firmly behind the Palestinian cause, and the country has made numerous demands for a fair and peaceful resolution of the conflict. It is the country’s position that all countries should respect international law as well as humanitarianism. Besides, to assert this is the moral duty of the world community to act firmly for the innocent civilians that are being killed and starved.

The appeal of Pakistan to the EU to act immediately and in unison is by itself essential. It is said to be essential to this move to prevent constantly recurring atrocities and implement international humanitarian law. Pakistan also sincerely requests the EU to follow the appeal concerted by Sweden and the Netherlands. The era of contemplation is over; the call to act is on.

The timing of the letter is not random. There was an official announcement of famine in Gaza by the United Nations on Friday. The UN accuses Israel of what it terms systematic defiance on the facilitation of aid. The crisis is the result of over 22 months of war that led to considerable loss of civilian lives and the destruction of many properties.

The humanitarian catastrophe has brought the appeal for more forceful steps in Europe. It has been said that assistance cannot be delivered to the needy without pressure on Israel by the politicians. Others think that the strategies of Hamas also extend the suffering.

The problem this time will be brought to the EU foreign ministers on Saturday. Proposals will be debated there by the member states. The extent to which Sweden and the Netherlands will collect support is not certain. There are those governments in the EU that like conservative diplomacy. Others fear that quotas might carve up relationships with Israel or with the United States. Yet momentum is building. Notably, the urgency has been introduced through the famine declaration.

In the EU, Sweden and the Netherlands have frequently been active participants in Middle East debates. Their last move indicates that they are ready to go to greater extremes. Accountability of settlement expansion, in the case of Stenergard, is the question. In the case of Brekelmans, it is the policies of Israel as well as the activities of Hamas.

The way they did things reflects a broader European trend. Greater information is frustrating governments that the peace process is not forthcoming. Settlement expansion is seen by many as the greatest barrier to a two-state solution. It is also claimed by others that diplomacy is compromised by the constant attacks by Hamas.

Despite these cries, the EU has internal cracks. Such nations as Germany and Hungary have always feared sanctioning Israel. France and Spain have assumed more hardline stances, but they are also wary of trade measures. Getting consensus will not come easy.

Nevertheless, the Swedish Akademisk holändsk Bulletin is a telling sign. The pressure on Israel no longer remains a fringe concept in the EU. It is entering into mainstream debate. This is in the wake of United States and Israel negotiations on post-war Gaza. Washington has called on restraint, yet it is on the side of Israel militarily. On the same day, Tel Aviv reported that a complete evacuation of Gaza City is inevitable. These trends make EU decisions more important. The sanctions would become a landmark should they be passed. The Israeli settlement policy has received many criticisms from the EU, but very few measures have been taken by the body. The most powerful thing that could be done, however, is to suspend the trade deal.

The Netherlands and Sweden have gone bold. Their open letter to Kaja Kallas asks to target sanctions against violent settlers and monopolist Israeli ministers. It also requires additional actions against the political leadership of Hamas. Also, they desire that the EU-Israel trade agreement be suspended.

The proposals come at a time when Gaza struggles with famine and when the war will turn 23 months old. The EU foreign ministers meeting in Copenhagen will debate the issue. The result may remodel the policy of Europe in the Middle East. Somehow the sanctions may pass or not pass, but one thing is evident. Increasing pressure is within the EU. The humanitarian crisis and the continuing conflict are moving governments to action. With the strikes by Sweden and the Netherlands, the issue of sanctions now rests squarely on the European stage.

Israel has stepped up its destruction of Gaza City as it plans to seize Gaza’s largest urban centre and forcibly displace around one million Palestinians to concentration zones in the south, as it killed at least 78 people across the besieged enclave since dawn, including 32 desperately seeking food.

On Sunday, in Gaza City, the Palestinian Civil Defence reported a fire in tents near al-Quds Hospital after Israeli shelling. At least five people were killed and three wounded when a residential apartment was hit near the Remal neighbourhood.

Ismail al-Thawabta, director of Gaza’s Government Media Office, said the Israeli army is also using “explosive robots” in residential areas and forcibly displacing Palestinians in Gaza City.

In a statement on X on Sunday, al-Thawabta said the army has detonated more than 80 such devices in civilian neighbourhoods over the past three weeks, calling it a “scorched-earth policy” that has destroyed homes and endangered lives.

He said more than one million Palestinians in Gaza City and the north of the enclave “refuse to submit to the policy of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing” despite the destruction and starvation caused by the Israeli assault.

Footage posted on Instagram by Palestinian journalist Faiz Osama and verified by Al Jazeera showed the moments that followed an Israeli aerial attack on the Sabra neighbourhood, in the southern part of Gaza City.

In the footage, as plumes of smoke rise to the sky, a child can be seen screaming with a wound to the leg. A man also lays on the ground with what appears to be a head injury.

The video also shows the destruction left by the strike after residential buildings were flattened by the explosion.

Israel’s forces have carried out sustained bombardment on Gaza City since early August as part of a deepening push to seize the area in the latest phase of its nearly two-year genocidal war.

On Friday, the Israeli military said it had begun the “initial stages” of its offensive, declaring the area a “combat zone”.

‘Fields of rubble’

Reporting from Gaza City on Sunday, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said intensifying Israeli attacks have been turning parts of Gaza City, once teeming and crowded with residential buildings, into “fields of rubble”.

“There is non-stop heavy artillery targeting the Zeitoun area and Jabalia, where we are seeing the systematic demolition of homes. There is hardly any fighting going on, but heavy artillery and bulldozers are moving from one street to the other, destroying all of these residential clusters,” he said.

“The majority of people in those areas do not have the luxury to pack up and leave because there is no safety anywhere.”

Another Palestinian journalist was also killed on Sunday. A source at al-Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera that Islam Abed was killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza City and that she worked for Al-Quds Al-Youm TV channel.

The Government Media Office said the “number of martyred journalists has risen to 247″ since the war began. Other tallies have put the number of journalists and media workers killed at more than 270.

On Monday, five journalists – one of whom worked for Al Jazeera – were among at least 21 people killed in an Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.

‘Life is difficult, so we will stay in our home’

Many residents in Gaza City are opting to stay put despite Israel declaring it a “combat zone”.

It was Gaza’s most populous city before the war began, home to about 700,000 people. Then hundreds of thousands fled under Israel’s forced evacuation threats before many returned, joined by thousands of other displaced from the south, during a January-to-March ceasefire, which Israel broke.

Fedaa Hamad, who was displaced from Beit Hanoon, said she has “no plans to leave” Gaza City this time despite Israel’s latest warning.

“We are tired from the first displacement. Where are we going to go? Is there a place in the south? We cannot find it,” she said.

Akram Mzini, a resident of Gaza City, said he would not leave “because displacement is very difficult”.

“We were displaced to the south before, and displacement in the south is not simple and it is costly,” he said. “Life is difficult, so we will stay in our home, and whatever God wants will happen.”

Elsewhere in Gaza on Sunday, an Israeli attack on the centre of Deir el-Balah killed at least four people, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

Earlier, medical sources said an Israeli bombardment killed at least one person and wounded several in the city, located in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces have killed at least 78 Palestinians across Gaza since dawn, including 32 aid seekers, according to medical sources.

Since the war began, Israel has killed at least 63,459 people and wounded 160,256. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, and about 200 were taken captive.

On Sunday, Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir held a situation assessment meeting with his top commanders, saying the military must “initiate” more attacks to surprise and reach its targets anywhere.

Many more reserve soldiers will assemble this week “in preparation for the continued intensification of the fighting against Hamas in Gaza City”, Zamir was quoted as saying by the military.

Meanwhile, the armed wing of Hamas said its fighters successfully attacked two invading Israeli military vehicles in Gaza City on Saturday.

The Qassam Brigades said a Merkava tank of the Israeli army was hit with a Yassin-105 shell, while a D9 military bulldozer was targeted with an explosive device on a street southwest of the Zeitoun neighbourhood of the besieged area.

As global condemnation against the situation grows, in the largest attempt to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory by sea, the Global Sumud Flotilla left the Spanish port city of Barcelona on Sunday.

The flotilla’s launch comes after the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared a state of famine in Gaza this month.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, which describes itself as an independent group not linked to any government or political party, did not say how many ships would set sail or the exact time of departure, but Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg spoke of “dozens” of vessels.

Sumud means “perseverance” in Arabic.

Two previous attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza were blocked by Israel.

Mohamad Elmasry of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies told Al Jazeera that while the flotilla was “an important act of symbolic resistance … ultimately, they will be intercepted”.

“This is not going to solve the famine,” he said. “What’s going to solve the famine, ultimately, is governments doing their job to stop genocide and deliberate starvation programmes.”

Weapons and support from the West, led by the United States, have been central to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The United Kingdom’s and European Union’s relations with Israel remain essentially unchanged despite the war.

Is this complicity? And could there be legal consequences for Western nations and their leaders?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Michael Lynk – former United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in occupied Palestinian territory

Yara Hawari – co-director of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network

Ralph Wilde – professor of international law at University College London

Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, has been killed in an air strike in Gaza City, Israel has said.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz congratulated the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel’s security agency, Shin Bet, for the “flawless execution” in a post on X.

He gave no detail on the time or location of the operation, but the IDF earlier said its aircraft attacked “a key terrorist” in the al-Rimal neighbourhood on Saturday, prompting reports in Israeli media that Obeida had been the target.

Hamas has not confirmed his death. The Palestinian armed group earlier said dozens of civilians were killed and injured in Israeli strikes on a residential building in the district.

Katz warned on Sunday that many more of Obeida’s “criminal partners” would be targeted with “the intensification of the campaign in Gaza” – a reference to a recently approved Israeli plan to seize control of Gaza City.

Separately, the IDF and Shin Bet offered more details about Saturday’s strikes that targeted the Hamas spokesman.

They said in a joint statement that the operation had been “made possible due to prior intelligence gathered by [Shin Bet] and the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate” that had identified his hiding place.

Obeida was among the few remaining senior members of Hamas’s military wing from before its deadly 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.

Five missiles struck the second and third floor of the six-storey apartment in the al-Rimal neighbourhood building simultaneously from two different directions.

The flat that was targeted had been used as a dentist’s surgery. Witnesses reported seeing hundreds of thousands of dollars flying in the air after the strikes, with large sums stolen by locals but later recovered by Hamas.

The joint statement said Obeida “served as the public face of the Hamas terrorist organization” and “disseminated Hamas’ propaganda”.

Over the past few years, Obeida – believed to be about 40 years old – delivered a number of long diatribes against Israel on behalf of Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.

Always masked in a Palestinian scarf, he became an idol to Hamas supporters throughout the Middle East.

In what may have been his final speech on Friday, Obeida said the fate of remaining Israeli hostages would be the same as that of Hamas fighters, warning Israel against its planned invasion of Gaza City.

Local journalists reported that at least seven people had been killed and 20 injured in the strikes on the densely populated al-Rimal neighbourhood, with children among the casualties.

Mohammed Emad, who runs a barbershop just 100m (328ft) from the site, told the BBC that “the blasts were terrifying – I couldn’t move for more than an hour”.

He added: “I can’t believe I’m still alive. I saw injured children with blood covering their faces, and people were running in every direction as if the world had ended.”

The IDF said that prior to the attack “many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial observations, and additional intelligence information”.

BBC News has been unable to independently verify the claims of either the IDF or Hamas.

In early August, Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City in a fresh offensive, with the stated aim of bringing the 22-month-long war to an end.

The UN has repeatedly warned that a complete military takeover would risk “catastrophic consequences” for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The UK’s ambassador to Israel has said it would be “a huge mistake”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to defeat Hamas and defied international criticism of his plans to expand the war.

Israel’s military operation in Gaza began in response to the Hamas-led 7 October attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Since then, more than 63,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

While the operation to capture Gaza City has yet to begin in earnest, Israeli attacks on the city – where nearly a million people live – have been ongoing.

One local resident told the BBC that the same apartment building struck on Saturday had already been hit in an earlier Israeli air raid months ago.

The Israeli military has said it plans to evacuate Gaza City’s entire population and move it to shelters in the south before troops move in. Most of Gaza’s population has already been displaced many times during the conflict.

More than 90% of the city’s homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, and the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed.

Last week, conditions of famine were confirmed in Gaza City and its surrounding areas for the first time.

Barcelona, Spain – Volunteers from across the world have come together in the main hall of one of Spain’s oldest labour unions, the UGT – once a registration centre for international volunteers who came to Spain to fight fascism during the Spanish Civil War.

Now it has trained the nonviolent international volunteers – Palestine supporters, activists, journalists and politicians – who will sail on the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza on Sunday.

“We are not heroes. We are not the story. The story is the people of Gaza,” organiser Thiago Avila, a lifelong activist for Palestine and environmental justice, told the crowds gathered for a news conference before the ships set sail.

Their goal is to deliver humanitarian aid, which is the flotilla’s only cargo, and open a humanitarian corridor for Palestinians facing being starved and killed by Israel.

In less than two years of war, Israel has killed more than 63,000 Palestinians with tens of thousands more injured and missing.

Sailing into the uncertain

About 26,000 applications from people around the world came in and were whittled down to the hundreds who will be on board the roughly 100 flotilla boats.

The flotilla will start in Barcelona and head to Tunisia, where it will be joined by more vessels on Thursday.

Once out again on the Mediterranean Sea, it will converge with more boats leaving Italy and other undisclosed ports, and together they will sail in formation to the Gaza Strip.

Organisers know time is against them as Israel kills Palestinians daily, not only using air strikes and ground forces but also a man-made famine that it has imposed.

Since 2010, all freedom flotillas to Gaza have been intercepted or attacked by Israeli forces.

In June, the ship Madleen was illegally intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters about 185km (115 miles) west of Gaza, where Israel has no authority. Its crew, which included climate activist Greta Thunberg, were detained or expelled.

In 2010, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, made up of six ships carrying humanitarian aid and more than 600 passengers, was raided by Israeli commandos in Mediterranean waters.

The commandos killed 10 activists and wounded dozens.

Other attempts were blocked by Israel in 2011, 2015, 2018 and multiple attempts in 2025, including the Conscience, which was struck twice by drones 25km (14 nautical miles) off Malta.

An earlier attempt over land, called the Global March to Gaza, set out in June to deliver aid to Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

Many of those volunteers have regrouped in Tunisia to gather ships to join the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Determined volunteers

The Barcelona gathering reflected a wide international presence, including delegations from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland and the United States.

The volunteers, some veterans of multiple flotillas, are focused on their collective purpose: to break Israel’s siege of Gaza and deliver aid to its people.

Training sessions in Barcelona were intense, designed to prepare participants for scenarios such as interception in international waters, arrest, imprisonment, deportation, violent assault or bureaucratic strategies to halt the departure of boats.

But the foundation of their preparation is maintaining nonviolence in any of these scenarios, something the organisers highlighted several times and warned that breaking from that principle would not be accepted.

Every volunteer has signed a strict code of conduct, committing to peaceful resistance and rejecting systems of oppression and exploitation throughout the mission.

Workshops also revisited the history of nonviolent struggle – from Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership in India’s independence movement to Rosa Parks’s defiance against racial segregation in the United States.

Among the participants was Luna Valentina, a 24-year-old Colombian volunteer. She is married to a Palestinian refugee and has lived in exile herself after being targeted in Colombia for her activism during mass protests against right-wing former President Ivan Duque.

The couple live in Jordan after facing racism in Europe as they tried to find somewhere to settle, she told Al Jazeera.

During the Global March to Gaza, Valentina joined other Colombians on the way to Rafah. She recalled the solidarity, strength and care she found among fellow Colombian female activists, some of whom will set sail with her now, and others who will support the mission from land.

Getting ready to set sail

On Friday, a three-day celebration of the volunteers and their mission began on Moll de la Fusta, a port walkway in Barcelona, as the countdown began for their departure.

It was a warm outpouring of support as sounds of drums filled the air, hundreds of Palestinian flags fluttered and crowds gathered for a festival of music, culture and art to show support for Palestinians in Gaza and for the volunteers of the flotilla.

What everyone is hoping for is that the ships will arrive on the coast of besieged Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid that Israel has blocked from entering.

For Avila, the father of a newborn, this flotilla continues a legacy: “I love my daughter so much, as the mothers and fathers in Gaza, and because of this love, … we cannot leave a world like this. We have to change the society that enables a genocide to happen,” he told Al Jazeera.

“I believe that anyone that is not dead inside dies a little bit with every child in Gaza that dies,” he added.

That sentiment was shared by an Australian mother of four who has also joined the flotilla. Her voice broke as she said: “No one should live and die like this. Everyone deserves the same dignity and freedom.”

A global fleet of boats is preparing to set sail for Gaza as part of an international maritime initiative aimed at delivering humanitarian aid to starving people in Gaza.

The first convoy, consisting of dozens of small civilian vessels carrying activists, humanitarians, doctors, seafarers, and humanitarian supplies, is scheduled to depart from Spanish ports on August 31, to meet up in Tunisia with a second wave on September 4.

Organisers describe the Global Sumud Flotilla as the largest maritime mission to Gaza, bringing together more than 50 ships and delegations from at least 44 countries.

Which countries are taking part?

According to the Global Sumud Flotilla, delegations from 44 countries have already committed to sail to Gaza as part of the largest maritime mission to break Israel’s illegal siege.

Countries from six continents will be taking part in the flotilla, including countries such as Australia, Brazil, South Africa and numerous European states.

According to the group, participants are unaffiliated with any government or political party.

Who are the groups participating?

This mission is organised by four major coalitions, including groups that have participated in previous land and sea efforts to Gaza:

• Global Movement to Gaza (GMTG) – Formerly known as Global March to Gaza, is a grassroots movement organising global solidarity actions to support Gaza and break the siege.
• Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) – With 15 years of experience running sea missions, including past flotillas such as the Madleen and Handala, FFC provides hands-on advice, guidance, and operational support to current efforts to break the Gaza blockade.
• Maghreb Sumud Flotilla –  Formerly known as the Sumud Convoy, is a North Africa-based initiative carrying out solidarity missions to deliver aid and support to Palestinian communities.
• Sumud Nusantara – A people-led convoy from Malaysia and 8 other countries, that aims to break the Gaza blockade and foster solidarity among Global South nations.

Collectively, they will form the largest coordinated civilian flotilla in history.

Who are the people involved?

According to the Global Sumud Flotilla website, the coalition comprises a range of people, including organisers, humanitarians, doctors, artists, clergy, lawyers, and seafarers, who are united by a belief in human dignity, the power of nonviolent action, and a single truth: the siege and genocide must end.

A steering committee has also been set up, which includes the likes of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, historian Kleoniki Alexopoulou, human rights activist Yasemin Acar, socioenvironmentalist Thiago Avila, political scientist and lawyer Melanie Schweizer, social scientist Karen Moynihan, physicist Maria Elena Delia, Palestinian activist Saif Abukeshek, humanitarian Muhammad Nadir al-Nuri, activist Marouan Ben Guettaia, activist Wael Nawar, activist and social researcher Hayfa Mansouri, and human rights activist Torkia Chaibi.

Although hundreds will set sail from the organised fleet, tens of thousands of others have registered to participate in the initiative.

When will the ships depart and how long to reach Gaza?

In a media briefing from Placa del Rei in Barcelona, ​​Saif Abukeshek said the exact number will be specified later and that the details of the specific ports and ships have been withheld for security reasons.

The group estimates that the fleet will take between seven and eight days to make the approximately 3,000km (1,620-nautical-mile) journey to Gaza.

What is a flotilla and why send aid by sea?

A flotilla is a group of boats or ships organised to deliver essential supplies, such as food, medicine and other materials, to regions in crisis. They are usually organised when traditional supply routes such as air and land corridors are blocked or inaccessible.

Since 2007, Israel has tightly controlled Gaza’s airspace and territorial waters, restricting the movement of goods and people. Even before the war, Gaza had no functional airports after Israel bombed and destroyed the Yasser Arafat International Airport in 2001, just three years after it opened.

Humanitarian and grassroots flotillas usually operate under the protection of international organisations and are governed by naval laws.

By delivering aid by sea, the Sumud flotilla aims to confront Israel’s blockade head-on and carry a message that the siege must end.

What has happened to previous flotillas?

Several Freedom Flotilla vessels have attempted to break the blockade of Gaza.

In 2008, two boats from the Free Gaza Movement successfully reached Gaza, marking the first breach of Israel’s naval blockade. The movement, founded in 2006 by activists during Israel’s war on Lebanon, went on to launch 31 boats between 2008 and 2016, five of which reached Gaza despite heavy Israeli restrictions.

Since 2010, all flotillas attempting to break the Gaza blockade have been intercepted or attacked by Israel in international waters.

2010 – Gaza Freedom Flotilla

In 2010, Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara in international waters. The assault killed 10 activists and injured dozens, leading to global outrage. The ship was carrying humanitarian aid and more than 600 passengers.

2011 – Freedom Flotilla II

Freedom Flotilla II was launched in 2011 as a follow-up to the 2010 mission. Organised by a coalition of international activists and NGOs, it aimed to breach Israel’s blockade on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid.

2015 – Freedom Flotilla III

Freedom Flotilla III was launched in 2015 as the third major attempt by international activists to break through Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. Organised by the FFC, the mission included several vessels, with the Swedish-flagged Marianne of Gothenburg leading the effort.

2018 – Just Future for Palestine

The Just Future for Palestine Flotilla – also known as the 2018 Gaza Freedom Flotilla – was part of a continued effort by the FFC to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

2025 – Break the Siege ‘Conscience’

While preparing to sail to Gaza on May 2, the Conscience was struck twice by armed drones, just 14 nautical miles (25km) off the coast of Malta. The attack triggered a fire and caused a significant breach in the hull, forcing the 30 Turkish and Azeri activists on board into a desperate effort to bail out water and keep the ship afloat.

2025 – Madleen – The Madleen, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) on June 9, was intercepted by the Israeli military about 185km (100 nautical miles) from Gaza, in international waters.

2025 – Handala – On June 26, Israeli forces stormed the Gaza-bound Handala ship, which was carrying aid to starving Palestinians.

Israeli forces step up air attacks as the military advances with plans to seize Gaza City and push out 1 million people.

Hundreds of Palestinians have fled Gaza City, piling their few remaining possessions onto pick-up trucks and donkey carts as Israel’s deadly bombings and forced displacement campaign intensifies in the area.

Families fleeing the Israeli military’s relentless bombardment have begun setting up makeshift tents amid miserable conditions in an area west of central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, to the south of Gaza City near Deir el-Balah.

Most of them have been forced to leave their homes more than once.

“We are thrown in the streets, like what would I say? Like dogs? We are not like dogs. Dogs are [treated] better than us,” Mohammed Maarouf, 50, told The Associated Press news agency, standing in front of his tent.

Maarouf and his family of nine had already been displaced from the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. “We have no homes. We are on the streets,” he said.

Ahmad Saadeh, originally from Beit Hanoon, also in Gaza’s north, told AP that Palestinians were suffering from hunger, sickness and a lack of shelter in the coastal enclave, where famine was confirmed earlier this month.

“We suffer from many things,” he said. “We suffer that our children are ill.”

Israeli forces have carried out a sustained bombardment on Gaza City since early August as part of a deepening push to seize the city and displace about one million Palestinians living there.

On Friday, the Israeli military said it had begun the “initial stages” of its offensive, declaring the largest urban centre in the territory a “combat zone”.

The new operation could forcibly displace one million Palestinians to concentration zones in southern Gaza, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned.

At least 71 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Saturday, hospital sources told Al Jazeera.

Of that, 41 people were killed in Gaza City alone, including at least 11 Palestinians who were killed while queueing for bread from ovens serving communities of displaced people.

At least seven Palestinians also were killed in a series of Israeli attacks on a residential apartment block in a densely populated area of the city. Rescuers were seen digging through the rubble to retrieve bodies and try to find any survivors.

“The Israeli army has been intensifying its attacks across Gaza City. Homes and community centres have been reduced to rubble, eroding the foundations of civilian life in the area,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported.

“This is happening while people are going through famine, enforced starvation and dehydration. Things are leading to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.”

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday also questioned Israel’s plans for a forced mass expulsion.

“It is impossible that a mass evacuation of Gaza City could ever be done in a way that is safe and dignified under the current conditions,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger said in a statement, describing the plan as “not only unfeasible but incomprehensible”.

Yet while Israel’s push to seize Gaza City has drawn international condemnation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has shown no signs of halting the military offensive.

Gideon Levy, a columnist with Israeli news outlet Haaretz, told Al Jazeera that Israel’s overarching plan for Gaza amounts to ethnic cleansing.

“The plan is to push all the inhabitants of Gaza out of their houses, then lock them in those concentration camps and then give them two choices, either to live in those camps forever or to leave the Gaza Strip,” Levy said.

Describing the Israeli government’s policy as “outrageous”, Levy added that Israel will only halt its offensive if US President Donald Trump decides that “enough is enough” and applies pressure on the country.

The US has provided Israel with billions of dollars in military assistance since its war on Gaza began in October 2023. Washington has also shielded its top ally from calls for accountability at the UN and other international arenas.

In February, Trump suggested removing all Palestinians from Gaza – a plan that would amount to ethnic cleansing, a crime against humanity.

A few days ago, my 30-year-old daughter Yasmin, who has special needs, walked up to me in our little place at the school shelter. Her steps were gentle, but determined. And I could see her eyes glittering with joy. I listened intently as she was struggling to speak.

“Dad…, I ate…chocolate!” she said triumphantly.

My mind started to race, trying to work out what I had heard. Where did Yasmin get chocolate?

For many years, Yasmin has lived in a world that has its own rhythm, its own language of affection and wonder. Unfortunately, when she was just four months old, a severe fever left her with a developmental disability. And at the age of seven, she suffered chronic bronchitis and underwent lung surgery in Egypt, which further affected her health and development.

We tried to provide a comfortable life for Yasmin as much as we could. We equipped her room with a computer, a tablet, colouring books, and toys of all sorts – building blocks, teddies, balloons, and even a swing suspended from the ceiling.

We also consulted specialists who prescribed Yasmin special medication. We organised various indoor and outdoor activities for her. Hide-and-seek was her favourite game, which gave her thrills of excitement.

Fortunately, for years, we were considerably able to manage Yasmin’s condition.

However, in October 2023, an Israeli warplane attacked our beautiful house, turning it into a pile of rubble. Our belongings and resources, including Yasmin’s kingdom (her room), disappeared altogether.

Since then, we have been forcibly displaced multiple times, taking refuge in schools-turned-shelters.

Where we are staying now, Yasmin sleeps on a thin mattress in crammed conditions. There is no privacy, no quiet, no comfort.

Caring for Yasmin at the shelter has been an exhausting and draining experience. She needs help dressing, navigating the toilet queue, walking through the chaotic courtyard. We have struggled to get her even a few toys and colouring pencils. And her medications have been very hard to find.

Yasmin is a good-looking and very sociable girl. Interestingly, people don’t have much difficulty getting used to how her tongue dances differently with words. Sometimes she misbehaves, which causes annoyance. But most people show empathy towards her.

Yasmin is also very kind. She often shares her food with friends, and on different occasions, she insists on preparing gifts for them. During Eid al-Adha last year, we decorated a tray of candies, each with a note reading, “Eid is happier with Yasmin!” She distributed the gifts with pride, lighting up the gloomy atmosphere of the shelter.

Unfortunately, now the situation has only gotten worse. Israel has tightened its merciless siege on the Gaza Strip, impeding the delivery of basic food supplies, fuel, and medical and sanitation aid. The markets have seen no trace of so many things for months. No vegetables, no fruit, no meat, no fish, no chicken, no eggs, no milk, no sugar, no chocolate!

The lack of nourishment has been a serious problem for all people in Gaza. Everyone I know has grown much thinner, with pale skin and an emaciated body. My wife and I have suffered from spells of dizziness.

Yasmin has been especially vulnerable. She has lost a lot of weight, and her health has deteriorated.

In July, nearly 12,000 Palestinian children under the age of five were officially diagnosed as malnourished.

On August 22, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported that Gaza City is officially experiencing a “man-made famine” and that an immediate, at-scale response is needed. The report marked the first time famine was declared in the Middle East.

According to the IPC, more than 500,000 people in the Gaza Strip, roughly a quarter of the population, are either close to or have already reached catastrophic levels of famine. Unless the situation on the ground changes quickly, that number is expected to rise to more than 640,000 by the end of September, while those in emergency-level food insecurity will likely rise to 1.14 million.

In addition to the casualties of the ongoing war – more than 62,000 killed and 140,000 injured – more than 315 Palestinians have already died as a result of the forced starvation, half of them children.

At this critical time, Yasmin surprisingly stood before me, carrying the lightness of a secret. With a glowing face, she declared she had eaten chocolate!

Startled, I turned to her. “You ate chocolate, Yasmin? Where? Who gave it to you?”

Sensing my confusion, she smiled and her face lit up with more delight. She gently shook her head and explained, “No, no, Dad. I…didn’t eat…chocolate. I said…I dreamed!”

I jumped up and gave Yasmin a big hug, bursting into laughter – laughter that was louder and longer than I had in months. My laughter, however, was laced with extreme sorrow and fatigue.

Amid the horrors of war and widespread famine, Yasmin had a dream of something sweet. And the dream was sweet enough to make her highly delighted.

Yasmin, a child/young woman with special needs, was not aware of the political meaning of her dream. She didn’t know that her dream, where she tasted something unreachable, was an act of rebellion against Israel’s atrocities and defiant hope to live freely in peace and dignity.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.