‘How can the world be silent about Gaza?’: Greta Thunberg

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has also spoken at the Global Sumud Flotilla news conference.

“The question here today is not why we are sailing. The story is not at all about the mission we are about to embark. The story here is about Palestine,” she said. “The story here is how people are being deliberately deprived of the very basic means to survive, and the story here is how the world can be silent.”

Israel, Thunberg said, is “very clear about their genocidal intent”.

“They want to erase the Palestinian nation. They want to take over the Gaza Strip. If that doesn’t make people act, if that doesn’t make people go out of their couch and take action, fill the streets, get organised, then I don’t know what will.”


Thunberg says governments complicit in Gaza ‘do not represent us’

“If you do not actively fight against genocide, … you are on the wrong side of history, and you will be judged accordingly,” Greta Thunberg says before setting sail on her second attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, joining hundreds of activists in the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Thunberg was previously arrested when Israeli forces intercepted the Madleen flotilla in June.

She described the mission as the 38th attempt to challenge what she called Israel’s “illegal and inhumane siege”.

“By continuously doing this, we are fulfilling our promise to the Palestinians … to do our part in upholding international law,” she said.

“I am extremely privileged. I don’t have to wake up every day and fight for my right to exist. … Palestinians do. Our governments’ complicity in genocide does not represent us.”

Greta Thunberg spoke in Barcelona before the Global Sumud Flotilla set sail to Gaza, condemning Israel’s actions as “genocide” and urging global resistance against silence and complicity. The activist said the mission is not about the boats but about standing with Palestinians deprived of basic survival. For more details, watch our story and subscribe to our channel, DRM News. 

GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA DEPARTURE

Join us for the farewell and departure of the Global Sumud Flotilla, history's largest international civil humanitarian movement to break the siege on Gaza, open a maritime humanitarian corridor and denounce the genocide against the Palestinians.

UN rapporteur backs Gaza flotilla, calls activists ‘moral warriors’

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, has voiced support for the flotilla that will sail from Barcelona towards Gaza.

“Forza Sumud Flotilla: you are moral warriors, where states remain inactive. And complicit,” she wrote on X. “I am with you, and with all those standing for justice, human rights and dignity. We build peace with peace, not weapons. Gaza is not alone.”

The flotilla, which organisers say is the largest attempt to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza, will set sail from Spain today. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg is among those on board, and dozens more ships are expected to depart Tunisia and other Mediterranean ports to join the flotilla in the coming days.

Israeli authorities have previously intercepted similar attempts to break the siege. Participants often have been arrested, taken to Israel and deported.

Forza #SumudFlotilla: you are moral warriors, where States remain inactive. And complicit.

I am with you, and with all those standing for justice, human rights and dignity.

We build peace with peace, not weapons.

Gaza is not alone. pic.twitter.com/z89Df2XBJO

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) August 31, 2025

Humanitarian flotilla departs for Gaza from Spain

_{Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian expedition to Gaza led by activists including Greta Thunberg, departs from the port of Barcelona, Spain on August 31}

Greta Thunberg Asked What Happens If Israel Blocks Gaza Flotilla — Watch Her Response

Asked by the Associated Press about a “Plan B” if Israel blocks the Global Sumud Flotilla, Greta Thunberg delivered a defiant response: “If Israel once again violates international law, our Plan B is to come back even bigger.” She stressed that the mission is not charity but solidarity, demanding an end to Gaza’s siege and occupation.

One person killed in Israeli strike on motorcycle in southern Lebanon

An Israeli drone has hit a motorcycle in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh region, killing one person, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera shows people surrounding the charred remains of the still smoldering vehicle in the street.

Lebanon Parliament speaker calls for national dialogue on Hezbollah weapons

Nabih Berri has pushed back against a US insistence to swiftly disarm Hezbollah, calling instead for dialogue.

“We are open to discussing the fate of these weapons, which we Lebanese see as honourable, within the framework of a calm and consensual dialogue,” Berri said.

Berri, who played a central role in negotiating last year’s ceasefire that ended Israel’s bombardment of parts of Lebanon, including Beirut, said outside pressure risked deepening divisions.

His comments come as the Lebanese army prepares to present a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year, a proposal endorsed by President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and most of his cabinet after US envoy Tom Barrack’s push.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has said the group’s weapons will not be surrendered until the Israeli military withdraws from five hilltops in southern Lebanon that it controls and stops its near-daily strikes on southern Lebanon.

Israeli army blows up building in southern Lebanon it says was used by Hezbollah

The Israeli army has released aerial footage of its forces blowing up a building in the repeatedly bombed Aita al-Shaab area of southern Lebanon near the border with Israel.

It claimed in a statement that the building was “used by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation for military activity” and called this a “blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon”.

The building allegedly served as the home of a Hezbollah operative who was killed a week earlier in the same village, according to the Israeli army.

Israeli forces have destroyed a large number of homes and buildings in ground attacks across southern Lebanon during the war on Gaza, and have continued to bomb Lebanon and operate inside its borders despite the November ceasefire with Hezbollah.

Houthi leader condemns Israel’s ‘record of terror’, says attacks will continue

The leader of Yemen’s Houthis, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, has denounced Israel and signalled defiance, hailing assassinated government leaders as “the martyrs of all Yemen”.

“The Israeli enemy, with its crimes and savagery, does not spare even children, women and defenceless civilians,” he said during his first speech since the Israeli strikes, according to Houthi media.

“The crime of targeting ministers and civilian officials is added to the criminal record of the Israeli enemy in the region.”

Al-Houthi said the “record of the Israeli enemy is one of horrific terror” as it kills people in Palestinian territory, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran. He called Israel “a criminal foe that demonstrates its savagery, criminality and aggression through practices that know no rules, no commitments, no charters and no considerations”.

The Houthi commander said the group will keep acting against Israel in opposition to the war on Gaza, adding that “our people will not be weakened by the aggression they are facing.”

Houthi leader warns against ‘treason’ as Israel seeks intelligence against group

We have more lines from al-Houthi, who spent part of his televised speech emphasising the significance of fighting off Israeli intelligence efforts after Israeli military sources claimed they had obtained the location of Thursday’s strikes shortly before the attacks.

“Security matters are one of the essential arenas alongside the military battle. The security services, through extensive efforts, have achieved significant accomplishments in improving the situation on the home front, and this process continues with full national and popular support,” the Houthi leader said.

“No act of treason, at any level – political or nonpolitical – can be accepted or tolerated. The Yemeni people stand vigilantly against every attempt to collaborate with the Zionist enemy and to implement its schemes and crimes.”

Al-Houthi promised that missile and drone attacks will be “continuing steadily and expanding” after Israel’s assassination of Yemen’s prime minister and cabinet members and said Israel is “not only the enemy of the Islamic nation, but a threat to all of humanity”.

Houthis raid UN offices and detain staff after Israeli strikes

Houthi forces raided offices of the United Nations food and children’s agencies in Yemen’s capital this morning, detaining at least one UN employee, officials quoted by The Associated Press have reported.

Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), said that security forces raided the agencies’ offices in Sanaa, calling the arbitrary detention of humanitarian staff “unacceptable”.

A UN official and a Houthi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was also a raid on UNICEF offices.

Ammar Ammar, a spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said there was “an ongoing situation” related to their offices in Sanaa, without providing further details.

The UN official said that contact with several WFP and UNICEF staffers was lost, and that they were likely also detained.

The Houthis have previously raided UN offices during Israel’s war on Gaza several times, arresting dozens while claiming they are fighting espionage efforts by Israel and the United States. At least one WFP staff member and one aid worker have died in detention.

UN demands immediate release of 11 more staff detained by Houthis

At least 11 United Nations personnel have been detained by the Houthis in Sanaa and Hodeidah, and property was seized after the Yemeni group raided offices, according to Hans Grundberg, UN special envoy to the country.

These arrests come in addition to 23 UN personnel currently in detention, some detained since 2021 and 2023, and one who died in detention earlier this year, he said in a statement.

“Despite sustained engagement and assurances sought over the last year, the arbitrary detention of UN staff, NGO workers, and civil society has continued. These actions severely hinder broader efforts to deliver assistance and advance peace in Yemen,” he said.

Grundberg said the Houthis must immediately and unconditionally release all UN personnel, as well as staff from national and international NGOs, civil society organisations, and diplomatic missions.

Israeli settlers attack, loot Palestinian homes near Bethlehem: Report

A group of Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian homes in the village of Kisan near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

Wafa news agency reported that the settlers, under protection from the Israeli army, broke into Palestinian homes and looted them.

So far this year, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has recorded more than 1,000 Israeli settler attacks across the West Bank that caused casualties, damaged property or both.

Israeli forces raid Ramallah and el-Bireh

The Israeli army has raided several areas in the Ramallah and el-Bireh governorate in the occupied West Bank, days after launching a prolonged raid on the area, the Wafa news agency reports.

The military raided the towns of Kafr Malek, Nilin and Deir Qadis without conducting arrests. Earlier this past week, Israeli forces stormed a currency exchange shop in an area between the cities of Ramallah and el-Bireh, detaining at least three Palestinians.

Israeli army assaults and settler violence have been on the rise in the West Bank since October 2, 2023, as Israel continues to relentlessly pound Gaza.

Gaza authorities report new strain of influenza amid medicine shortages

Displaced Palestinians crammed in tents as well as patients suffering from life-threatening diseases in Gaza are now threatened by a new strain of influenza that is rapidly spreading, according to the enclave’s Government Media Office.

It said in a statement that hospitals and healthcare centres that remain functioning are unable to meaningfully respond to the threat “amid catastrophic health conditions caused by the ongoing siege and genocide”.

The virus is spreading fast due to severe overcrowding, lack of clean water and ventilation, and deterioration of health services as a result of Israel’s mass displacement of the population and the widespread destruction of Gaza.

Child among two people killed in Israeli attack on Maghazi refugee camp

A source at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital has reported that two people have been killed, including a child, and several others injured when an Israeli drone attacked a residential building in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.

Youth in US, West are seeing past Israel’s narratives on Palestinians: Activist

Speaking from a pro-Palestine conference that is under way in Detroit, an organiser with the US-based Palestinian Youth Movement said it is important for Palestinians to take the reins for their struggle for freedom and tell their own stories.

“For those of us who were born into exile in the US or other countries in the West, we feel a particular obligation to confront and expose the complicity of countries like the US that are bankrolling and co-creating the genocide in Gaza,” Lea Kayali told Al Jazeera.

She said the so-called aid sites run by the GHF are “killing fields enacted directly by the agents of the US”, adding that the youth movement also works to confront “complicit journalism” that sidelines Palestinian narratives and gives credence to Israeli lies.

“Being here in the US and organising as a Palestinian, I have seen more people stand up with Palestine now than ever before in my life, and they simply do not believe the lies and the headlines, instead following voices on the ground in Gaza,” she said.

Activists focusing on ways to target companies ‘facilitating genocide’ in Gaza

The main thing organisers hope will come from the pro-Palestine conference in Detroit, Michigan in the US is giving people a tangible strategy to implement in their locales, said Palestinian-American activist Mohammed Nabulsi.

“What we’ve realised is that we’re in a moment where we have a government and an administration that’s not going to be receptive to any pressure. Its relationship with the state of Israel and the Israeli government is one of complete no limits in terms of what they can do in Gaza,” he told Al Jazeera at the conference.

“For us, the main weakness in this network of private actors, governments and media that facilitates this genocide is the corporate actors. We’re specifically thinking about the way that corporate actors, including shipping giant Maersk or software company Microsoft, are facilitating the genocide.”

Nabulsi said activists plan on implementing more pressure on local governments to take action, as well as against the companies. Some companies could be pressured through directing focus on their public contracts with other countries that may agree to end them, he said.

Main events on August 31st

Ex-Biden Official Accidentally EXPOSES Israel’s Secret Strategy in New Yorker Call

Journalist Laila Al-Arian joins Katie to discuss Jacob Lew’s defense of killing children, smears of Palestinian reporters, and the resilience of Wael Dahdouh and Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya — as the mask of Western values falls off.

https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-866019

Israeli forces kill pregnant woman and her unborn baby in Gaza City assault

The Israeli military has killed a pregnant woman and her unborn baby near the Shati refugee camp as it continued its large-scale assault on Gaza City, with several strikes targeting civilians.

Medical sources at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital said that another child was also killed in the attack on a house near the camp on Monday, according to the Wafa news agency.

The military also continued to pummel the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods in the south of the city, where more than 1,000 buildings have been levelled since Israel began its push to take over the urban centre last month, killing 10 people on Monday.

Earlier in the day, scenes of chaos played out at a crowded market on Gaza City’s Nasser Street, with locals scattering in all directions amid the debris after an Israeli attack, which killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others.

Reporting from the scene, Al Jazeera’s Moath al-Kahlout said people were panic-stricken. “They don’t know what to do and where to go. They are trying so hard to find a safer place, but the Israeli army keep attacking every corner in the city,” he said.

Further south, in Deir el-Balah, Israel targeted a group of citizens inside Al-Mazra’a School. Later, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital announced the death of Anas Saeed Abu Mughsib, Wafe reported.

Medical sources said that in total, at least 59 people were killed in Israeli attacks across the Strip on Monday.

Gaza school year starts but barely any children are in lessons

As the school year begins in Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al Khalili has been to see some of the few school children able to access lessons due to the mass destruction and displacement caused by Israel’s war.


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