Bangladesh slams flotilla’s interception

Bangladesh has condemned Israel’s attack on the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla and demanded the immediate, unconditional release of the aid and rights workers seized at sea.

In a statement on Friday, the Foreign Ministry of the South Asian nation called the Israeli action a “flagrant violation of international law and a brazen manifestation of Israel’s use of hunger as a weapon of war”.

Dhaka urged Israel to guarantee the safety of those detained and to end what it described as a genocidal war and humanitarian blockade in Gaza.

“The much-needed humanitarian aid flotilla represents global solidarity with the occupied Palestinian people. Israel must allow its unhindered access to Gaza, where civilians are being denied their basic rights to life, dignity and livelihood,” the ministry said.

Bangladesh, a nation of 170 million people, does not recognise Israel.

Colombia expels Israeli diplomats over flotilla incident involving detained Colombian nationals

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has ordered the expulsion of Israel’s entire diplomatic delegation from the country in protest over the detention of two Colombian nationals aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Petro had cut diplomatic ties with Israel in May 2024. On Wednesday, however, he went further, instructing any remaining Israeli diplomatic representatives to leave Colombian territory immediately.

 
Italy’s unions call general strike to protest interception of flotilla aid mission.

Unions across Italy have called a daylong general strike to protest against the interception of the flotilla. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in support of the aid mission, which academics in Rome say has long resonated in the Catholic-majority country.

“After what I saw with the flotilla, I thought I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. It’s the first time I’ve joined this kind of demonstration,” Mario Mascetti, a protester in Rome, told Reuters.

In the capital, crowds marched from Piazza Vittorio to the main train station, carrying union and Palestinian flags as well as banners. The strike caused delays and cancellations across the rail network, with more limited disruption at airports. Metro lines continued running in both Rome and Milan.

“This is not just any strike. We’re here to defend brotherhood among peoples, to put humanity back at the centre, to say no to genocide and to a policy of rearmament,” said Maurizio Landini, leader of the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL).

4 flotilla activists deported, others being processed: Israel

Israel’s Foreign Ministry says it deported four Italian citizens who joined the Global Sumud Flotilla and is preparing to deport the remaining activists.

“Israel is keen to end this procedure as quickly as possible,” the ministry said in a post on X. It claimed all 461 of the detained activists are “safe and in good health”.

Earlier, the Global Sumud Flotilla called on Israel to release all its activists, several of whom have entered “an open-ended hunger strike” since being seized.

The group pledged the seizures would not mark the end of their mission. “Our determination to confront Israel’s atrocities and stand with the Palestinian people remains unshaken,” it said.

Flotilla activists detained in Ktziot prison, infamous for rights violations

Ktziot prison, where the flotilla activists are being held before deportation, has been widely criticised by rights groups for its conditions.

Located in the Negev desert in southern Israel, Ktziot has long had a reputation for harsh treatment.

In a 2025 report titled Welcome to Hell, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem documented the cases of 12 Palestinians held there. It cited a lack of food and water, severe beatings and incidents of sexual abuse among the abuses faced by prisoners.

Ultra orthodox Israeli protester breaks Gaza’s siege

In the last few hours, the Global Sumud Flotilla posted footage of a young Israeli, Itamar Greenberg, attempting to enter Gaza in protest against his country’s war.

In his post, Greenberg, who comes from an ultra-Orthodox family, wrote: “Right now: breaking the siege. We are literally in Gaza!”

Israeli forces shoot and wound 2 Palestinians in occupied West Bank

UNIFIL says Israeli army dropped grenades near peacekeepers, Lebanese forces

The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) says the incident occurred yesterday near the municipality of Maroun al-Ras, near the Lebanese border with Israel.

UNIFIL said peacekeepers and Lebanese forces were providing security for civilian workers trying to clear the ruins of a home destroyed in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, when a grenade exploded near an excavator.

Working at two different sites, a first group of peacekeepers then “saw a drone fly overhead and witnessed an explosion about 30-40 metres [100-130ft] away”.

“About 20 minutes after that, the second group saw another drone drop a grenade that exploded just 20 metres [70ft] over their heads,” UNIFIL said, adding it had informed the Israeli military of the work before the time.

“Attacks on peacekeepers or interference with their mandated tasks show disregard for the safety and security of UNIFIL peacekeepers and the Lebanese army, and the stability they are working to restore in south Lebanon,” it said.

Gaza City residents describe ‘horror’ of Israel’s ground invasion

The Israeli military is extensively using remote-controlled vehicles and explosive robots in densely populated urban areas of Gaza City.

Many people who lived in these neighbourhoods are now buried and missing in the piles of rubble. Large numbers of buildings have been completely destroyed, detonated without any prior warning.

The Israeli military uses the tactic of planting these explosives at night, and, in the morning, these devices are detonated, causing many casualties. People who have managed to escape have described the horror since Israel expanded its offensive last month.

The army is gradually moving into the heart of the city, forcing the vast majority of Palestinians to move towards the western area and the coastal road to the south. This road is now open only one way – to Gaza’s south. The journey is extremely dangerous and exhausting.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen the destruction and demolition of high-rise residential towers. But now these remote-controlled explosives are destroying entire neighbourhoods.

These areas at one time represented a refuge for many forcibly displaced families. They have eroded to the point where that doesn’t exist any more.

Forcibly displaced again, Palestinians from Gaza City head south

_{Many are sleeping on the coastal road after fleeing Israel’s relentless bombardment}

Gaza City’s Sabra, Shati camp focus of latest Israeli attacks

Attacks are clearly intensifying across Gaza City, particularly in the Sabra neighbourhood, where the vast majority of people have concentrated. They’ve congregated there because there’s a little bit of drinking water and access to food supplies.

But the Israeli military has ramped up its attacks on this neighbourhood, pushing more people either on to the coastal road or into central parts of Gaza, which have become quite deadly.

We spoke to a couple of people on the phone to get a feel for what is going on, and we could clearly hear the sound of machinegun fire and drones in the background.

Israel’s military has also focused on the Shati refugee camp in an attempt to depopulate the area. The pace of attacks there resembles previous assaults on Jabalia refugee camp.

The military is using a combination of drones and fighter jets, while systematically demolishing remaining residential towers, particularly with remotely operated explosive vehicles.

UN says notion of a safe zone in southern Gaza ‘farcical’

The United Nations has reiterated there are no safe areas for Palestinians ordered to leave Gaza City, and Israel-designated “humanitarian zones” in the south are “places of death”.

“The notion of a safe zone in the south is farcical,” UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva.

Addressing the catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, he noted, “Bombs are dropped from the sky with chilling predictability; schools, which had been designated as temporary shelters, are regularly reduced to rubble. Tents … are regularly engulfed in fire from air attacks.”

Situation for mothers and babies ‘has never been worse’ in Gaza

Mothers and newborn babies in Gaza face dire conditions at Nasser Hospital in the south of the war-torn Palestinian enclave, UNICEF says. The main hospital in southern Gaza is overwhelmed with patients fleeing the north, and medical resources are fast running out, it said.

“The situation for mothers and newborns in Gaza has never been worse. In Nasser Hospital, we’re seeing hospital corridors lined with women who’ve just given birth,” spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.


_{A baby suffering from malnutrition receives limited treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis}

At least 63 killed in Israel’s attacks on Gaza in last 24 hours

According to a statement by the Gaza Health Ministry, 227 others have been injured in Israeli bombing over the past day.

The total death toll in the enclave since October 7, 2023 has risen to 66,288 with 169,165 wounded, the ministry said. The actual number of the dead is likely far higher, with thousands of bodies believed buried under the vast debris of blown-up buildings throughout the Strip.

‘Humanity and determination’: Strike begins in Italy over Gaza genocide

A general strike in Italy in support of the Gaza aid flotilla disrupted trains and threatened more commuter chaos in a second day of demonstrations in Rome.

The strike – called by the USB and CFIL unions – follows demonstrations on Thursday in several cities across the world, including in Milan and Rome, where some 10,000 people marched from the Colosseum.

Protesters began to amass again on Friday morning in Rome to march to the vast plaza outside the central train station of Termini, where services were cancelled or delayed for up to 80 minutes.

“The squares will be packed,” the head of the CGIL union Maurizio Landini told Radio Anch’io.

“It shows the humanity and determination of decent people who want to stop genocide and are doing what governments and states have pretended not to see or are even complicit in,” Landini added.


_{Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest during a nationwide strike called by unions}

UK police urge cancellation of pro-Palestinian protest after attack

British police have asked organisers of a planned pro-Palestinian protest in London this weekend to cancel or postpone the event following the deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue.

“The horrific terrorist attack that took place in Manchester yesterday will have caused significant fear and concern in communities across the UK, including here in London,” the Metropolitan Police said on X.

Police said they wanted to deploy every available officer to protect communities but were instead having to prepare for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in London’s Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of Palestine Action, an organisation banned under anti-terrorism laws in July.

“By choosing to encourage mass law breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries [protest organisers] are drawing resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most,” the police said.

You don't have to arrest the elderly holding up a sign for free speech... London is not Manchester either. Lying pieces of scum, British police is just there to serve the rich and powerful. Disgraceful.

Stop supporting and defending genocide.

Palestinian Authority denounces Manchester synagogue attack

The Palestinian presidency has affirmed its “absolute rejection of targeting civilians in their homes, places of worship, and anywhere else”, according to a statement.

“Solidarity with the Palestinian people must not be used to carry out acts of violence or anti-Semitic actions, which we reject,” it added.

In Thursday’s attack, two men, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed after a British man of Syrian descent drove a car into pedestrians and then began stabbing people outside Manchester’s Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.

Police have not publicly indicated the motive behind the attack though they declared it a “terrorism incident”.

Dutch Supreme Court orders government to reevaluate Israel weapons exports

The Netherlands’ Supreme Court has ruled the government must reassess its policies for exporting arms to Israel as its war on Gaza continues to draw global condemnation.

While the court did not uphold a ban on the export of parts for F35 fighter jets ordered by a lower court last year, it said the government needs to review by itself the risk of such parts being used in violation of international law.

It gave the government six weeks to finish the review, during which the export of fighter jet parts will still be banned.

Numerous Western countries have already stopped or heavily restricted weapons exports to Israel during the Gaza war, including Germany, Canada, Spain, Italy and Belgium.