Breaking: Spain joins Italy in sending warship to support Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla
Italy Deploys Naval Ship to Aid Sumud Flotilla Following Drone Attack
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“States have a responsibility to ensure the safe passage of the flotilla,” said Amnesty International.
The Italian government says it has sent a naval ship to assist the Global Sumud Flotilla after it was attacked by several drones.
Organizers of the flotilla said that the boats, which are carrying humanitarian aid for the starving people of Gaza, were attacked by a swarm of 15 drones early Wednesday morning, with the convoy in the Mediterranean Sea about 600 nautical miles from the enclave.
According to Drop Site News, at least eight attacks and six explosions were reported as flash bang grenades hit at least six of the boats. One person has been injured, and two of the boats have been damaged. They also reported that an “unidentified chemical device” was dropped onto one of the boats before falling off into the water.
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In a statement issued Wednesday, Italy’s defense minister Guido Crosetto said: “Regarding the attack suffered in recent hours by the Sumud Flotilla vessels, which also include Italian citizens, carried out using drones by currently unidentified perpetrators, we can only express the strongest condemnation. In a democracy, even demonstrations and protests must be protected when they are conducted in compliance with international law and without resorting to violence.”
“To ensure assistance to the Italian citizens on the flotilla,” Crosetto said that he had “authorized the immediate intervention of the Italian Navy’s multi-purpose frigate Fasan,” which he said was “already en route to the area for possible rescue operations.”
The deployment comes after labor unions in Italy led a nationwide strike in solidarity with Gaza on Monday, with hundreds of thousands of people in 75 cities and towns rallying to support Palestinians as well as the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Hundreds of other elected representatives to the European Union also issued calls on Wednesday for their own governments to provide protection to the flotilla.
Original article continues
- Despite 2 Sabotage Attempts, the Gaza Flotilla Ship Handala Sails Onward ›
- Sumud Flotilla Member Greta Thunberg ‘Absolutely Disgusted’ by Global Silence on Gaza Genocide ›
- ‘We Will Not Stop,’ Says Gaza Sumud Flotilla After Second Drone Attack ›
- Global Sumud Flotilla Set for Latest Attempt to ‘Break Israel’s Illegal Siege on Gaza’ ›
- ‘It’s Terror’: Global Sumud Flotilla Bound for Gaza Bombed ›
- Portending Another Attack, Israeli Foreign Ministry Smears Sumud Flotilla as ‘Jihadist Initiative’ ›
- Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention Backs Gaza-Bound Global Sumud Flotilla ›
- 16 Nations Warn Israel Against Attacking Gaza-Bound Global Sumud Flotilla ›
- ‘Pure Incitement’: Google Rebuked Over Israeli Sponsored Propaganda Aimed at Global Sumud Flotilla ›
Israel seeks permanent control of Gaza, while ensuring Jewish majority in West Bank, Israel: UN inquiry commission
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Israel is seeking permanent control of the Gaza Strip while ensuring a Jewish majority in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel said in a new report Tuesday, Anadolu reports.
The commission found Israeli policies since October 2023 show “clear and consistent” intent to “forcibly transfer Palestinians, expand Israeli Jewish civilian presence and annex the entirety of the West Bank,” blocking Palestinian self-determination.
It warned that these measures are part of a broader strategy to prevent any future Palestinian state.
“I am particularly appalled by the Israeli Finance Minister (Bezalel) Smotrich’s recently announced plan of annexing 82 percent of the occupied West Bank, and by the approval of a plan cementing the E1 settlement expansion, with Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu asserting that this will ensure there will be no Palestinian State,” said Navi Pillay, the commission chair.
“Israeli encroachment into the entirety of the West Bank and the dispossession and relocation of multiple Palestinian communities are now explicit goals, which Israeli officials proudly boast about,” she stressed, adding that these measures are “abhorrent and must be condemned widely.”
The report said Israeli military operations in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams refugee camps since early 2025 destroyed buildings, displaced residents, and amounted to collective punishment. Some demolished structures were labeled “terrorist homes” by the army, but the commission found the actions were not militarily justified.
READ: Spain approves full arms embargo on Israel, warns Netanyahu over Gaza killings
In Gaza, the inquiry found that Israeli authorities “extensively and systematically” demolished civilian infrastructure in corridors and buffer zones, expanding control over 75% of the territory by July.
It said such actions have “substantially reduced the territory available for Palestinians, with significant implications for their ability to exercise their right to self-determination.”
The report also accused Israeli authorities of systematically reducing Gaza’s territory and resources, saying actions inflicted conditions of life calculated to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, “which is an underlying act of genocide.”
“Israel must immediately end and reverse its confiscation and use of Palestinian land in Gaza, including for the creation and expansion of the buffer zone and corridors. It must return all confiscated land to its Palestinian owners,” Pillay said.
“Israeli confiscation and control of land ostensibly carried out for security purposes have not achieved more security for anyone but have deepened the misery of the Palestinian people and deprived them of resources indispensable for their survival, including the capacity to produce food.”
The report also noted that inside Israel, successive governments have implemented laws and policies confining Palestinian localities and hindering integration. It said similarities with measures in the West Bank point to a broader policy “intended to secure a Jewish majority in all areas under Israeli control, reducing the possibility of geographical self-determination for the Palestinian people.”
The commission named Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, current Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Settlements and National Projects Orit Strock, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as bearing the greatest responsibility for international crimes linked to land and housing, with Netanyahu and Gallant also found responsible for incitement to genocide.
The report will be presented to the UN General Assembly’s 80th session on Oct. 28 in New York.
Last week, the commission concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza by committing “four of the five” genocidal acts defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention: killing members of a group, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births.
READ: Islamic Jihad official accuses Netanyahu of rejecting peace, says Gaza solution blocked
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Western nations call on Israel to restore Gaza-West Bank medical corridor
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Dozens of Western countries have called on Israel to reopen the medical corridor between Gaza and the occupied West Bank. They expressed their readiness to provide financial support, medical teams, and equipment to help treat patients from Gaza.
Countries including Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and members of the European Union signed a joint statement urging Israel to allow patients from Gaza to reach the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for urgent medical treatment.
“We strongly appeal to Israel to restore the medical corridor to the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, so medical evacuations from Gaza can be resumed and patients can get the treatment that they so urgently need on Palestinian territory,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, since 7 October 2023, Israeli forces – with support from the United States and other Western nations – have continued a devastating military campaign in Gaza. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, around 232,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured so far. Additionally, 442 people, including 147 children, have reportedly died due to starvation.
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