RSS
New ‘Freedom Flotilla’ Sets Sail to Try Breaking Gaza Blockade
Gaza-bound British-flagged yacht “Madleen” is docked in Ashdod port following a takeover by the Israeli army, in Ashdod, Israel, June 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nir Elias
i24 News – A new boat from the “Freedom Flotilla,” the Handala, left Syracuse in Sicily this Sunday, bound for the Gaza Strip.
Loaded with medical supplies, food, equipment for children, and medicine, this former Norwegian trawler is carrying around fifteen pro-Palestinian activists. The objective is to “break the Israeli blockade” and provide humanitarian aid to Gazans in need.
The departure, which was celebrated by dozens of people at the dock waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Free Palestine,” comes six weeks after Israel intercepted a previous ship, the Madleen, which was carrying, among others, Greta Thunberg and European Union parliamentarian Rima Hassan. The Handala will stop in Gallipoli, Turkey where Gabrielle Cathala and Emma Fourreau, two other lawmakers from Hassan’s party, France Insoumise, will join the expedition on July 18. The former is a parliamentarian in France, while the latter serves alongside Hassan in the European Union assembly.
“This is a mission for the children of Gaza, to break the blockade and the silence about the genocide,” said Cathala, denouncing a possible “yet another violation of international law” if the boat is stopped.
Funded by donations, this initiative aims to support the population of Gaza. “We want to show international solidarity,” explained Claude Léostic, the French coordinator of the flotilla.
The post New ‘Freedom Flotilla’ Sets Sail to Try Breaking Gaza Blockade first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
RSS
Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
RSS
Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”