Category: 2. Middle East

The International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza announced today that the civilian ship Madleen, carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza and carrying 11 international activists and an Al Jazeera correspondent, was attacked and assaulted by Israeli naval forces at 0300 Cairo time, approximately 120 nautical miles in international waters. A press release by the group said Israeli commandos illegally boarded the ship, detained its civilian crew and the peaceful…

A campaign group to break Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip vowed today to continue efforts to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid to the enclave, shortly after Tel Aviv intercepted an aid ship bound for the territory while it was in international waters.

“[Though] we feel helpless and our capabilities are limited, we continue to do everything we can, along with the free people of the world, to reject the war and demand the opening of the crossings and…

The Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, has defeated the Israeli occupation army, which considers itself “the strongest army” in the Middle East, retired Israeli General and military expert, Yitzhak Brik, has said, considering the defeat a “severe blow to Israel’s deterrence”.

In an article published yesterday in the Hebrew Maariv newspaper under the title “Leading Israel to Mass Suicide: The IDF Continues to Fight the Wars of the Past”,

Brik…

Iranian intelligence agencies have obtained a large trove of sensitive Israeli documents, some related to the nuclear plans and facilities, Iran’s state media reported on Saturday according to Reuters.

There was no immediate official comment from Israel and it was not clear whether the report was linked to a reported hacking of an Israeli nuclear research centre last year that Tehran is choosing to divulge now amid heightened tensions over its nuclear…

A Gaza-bound aid boat reached Israel’s Ashdod port on Monday after being intercepted by Israeli forces, preventing the dozen activists on board including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory.

An AFP photographer said that the Madleen, which organisers said was intercepted in international waters overnight, reached the port north of Gaza at around 8:45 pm (1745 GMT), escorted by the Israeli navy.

The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise…

Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound aid boat on Monday, preventing the activists on board — including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg — from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory.

The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness of food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has called the “hungriest place on Earth”. After 21 months of war, the UN warns the entire population is at risk of famine.

At around 4:02 am (0102 GMT), Israeli forces “forcibly…

Iran said on Monday it will soon present a counter-proposal on a nuclear deal with the United States, after it had described Washington’s offer as containing “ambiguities”.

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.

The longtime foes have been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran’s uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending…

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition announced on Monday that it had lost contact with the aid ship Madleen after Israeli forces seized the vessel and arrested those on board while sailing towards the Gaza coast.

According to sources from the coalition, communication with the ship was completely cut off early Monday morning. They said that Israeli military forces boarded the vessel and detained those aboard, while it was on a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to…

A convoy of thousands of volunteers, who include diplomats, has set out from Algeria yesterday heading for Tunisia and onwards to Gaza in an effort to break the siege.

Carrying vital supplies including food, water and medical aid, the convoy is due to drive through Tunisia, where more vessels are due to join, then onwards to Libya, then Egypt and through to the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza.

The Coordinating Committee for Joint Action for Palestine in Tunisia said: “Participants in…

The Israeli occupation military said yesterday that it struck a member of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in southern Syria’s Mazraat Beit Jin, days after Israel carried out its first air strikes in the country in nearly a month, Reuters reports.

Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike.

Israel said on Tuesday it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel for the first time under the country’s new leadership….