Israel attacks Global Sumud flotilla as vicious Gaza assault continues

TNA’s live coverage of the latest from the war on Gaza concludes for today. Join us again at 0800 GMT for updates from the besieged Palestinian enclave.
 

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has mourned the “horrifying loss” of Omar Hayek, a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff member killed in an Israeli attack in Gaza.

MSF said Hayek and several colleagues were targeted while waiting for a bus to a field hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. The group stated they were clearly identifiable as medical workers, wearing MSF vests. Four others were also seriously injured.

“Another horrifying loss of an MSF colleague in Gaza. Omar Hayek was an occupational therapist. Other colleagues injured include a physiotherapist, and an orthopaedic surgeon among others,” Tedros wrote on social media, without naming Israel.

He added: “I mention their professions because I spoke earlier today of the urgent need for this specialised care for the thousands of injured Gazans. Every loss of a medical worker is a tragedy for their families, colleagues, and the people they will never be able to help.”

According to Tedros, “Over the past two years, WHO has verified over 1700 attacks on health care in Gaza and the West Bank, resulting in more than 1000 deaths and 1800 injuries.”

This morning, an attack carried out by Israeli forces killed Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff member, Omar Hayek, and seriously injured four others. The attack took place on a street where our teams were waiting to take a bus to the MSF field hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza.…

— MSF International (@MSF) October 2, 2025

Hamas will announce its response to Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal "soon", senior political bureau member Mohammed Nazzal told Al Jazeera Arabic.

Nazzal said the Gaza-ruling group had the right to express its views "in a way that serves the interests" of the Palestinian people.

He explained that Hamas is reviewing the plan with the aim of halting Israel’s war on Gaza.

"We are not dealing [with the plan] under the logic that time is a sword pointed at our neck,” he said.

Trump previously stated on Tuesday that Hamas had "three or four days" to respond.

Israel is planning a large-scale "massacre" of civilians in Gaza City, according to Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

He warned that Israel’s labelling of 250,000 Palestinians still trapped in Gaza City as “terrorists or terror supporters” could be used to justify their mass killing.

"[This] is a statement suggesting planned large scale massacres: killing more women, children, elderly and vulnerable people unable to move out," Lazzarini wrote in a social media post.

He added: "No one has the licence to kill civilians. Ongoing international crimes in Gaza cannot continue to be implicitly tolerated. More inaction will lead to more complicity to what the UN Commission of Inquiry has already concluded is genocide. Time to act."

Ismail al-Thawabta, head of Gaza’s Government Media Office, praised flotilla activists, saying their mission had “reached the entire world.”

In a post on X, he accused Israeli forces of committing an act of “piracy” in intercepting the flotilla, claiming they sought to “besiege the truth just as they besiege, kill, destroy, and displace” Palestinians.

He told the activists: “You may not have reached us with your bodies, but you reached our hearts before you even set sail, with your humanitarian solidarity and the purity of your noble and pristine intentions.”

“Your message has reached the entire world,” he added.

Police sprayed tear gas on protesters in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday evening who were marching in support of the Gaza flotilla, eyewitnesses told news agency Reuters, which the police confirmed.

"We were retreating and suddenly got heavily gassed," a eye witness told news agency Reuters, describing a burning sensation in their eyes and difficult breathing.

Israel's interception of the flotilla sparked protests in Geneva and Bern, as well as in Italy and Colombia on Thursday.

Israeli forces intercepted around 40 boats carrying aid and more than 400 foreign activists, including some Swiss nationals, and Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to Gaza.

A photo shared with Reuters by a eyewitness in Geneva showed a large plume of white smoke coming from a street filled with protesters, which they described as tear gas.

A second eyewitness told Reuters that they saw a large white vehicle spray water on the front line of protesters, which a video shared by the Swiss national broadcaster RTS also showed.

Alexandre Brahier, spokesperson for the Geneva police said that around 3,000 people, mostly adults and young men had joined the protest.

"We had to use control measures including tear gas and water canons," he said, adding that protesters were not carrying dangerous arms but were "throwing things", causing some damage to property spraying graffiti.

Such confrontations are rare for Switzerland although pro-Gaza protests have been gathering momentum in recent weeks.

"Large protests are to be expected in big cities but it’s not every day that we need to resort to control measures like this," Brahier added.

Mobile phone footage shared with Reuters show flares being thrown amidst the crowd, as hundreds of people moving down a crammed street in central Geneva. 

President Donald Trump's administration approved $230 million for Lebanon's security forces this week as they push to disarm the once powerful armed group Hezbollah, sources in Washington and Beirut said.

News agency Reuters, citing a Lebanese source familiar with the decision, reported the funding included $190 million for the Lebanese Armed Forces and $40 million for the Internal Security Forces.

Democratic U.S. congressional aides said the funds had been released just before Washington's fiscal year ended on September 30.

"For a small country like Lebanon, that's really, really significant," one of the aides said on a call with reporters, requesting anonymity in order to speak freely.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supports most of Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, stressing that any plan must lead to a two-state solution — something Israeli leaders have repeatedly rejected.

Describing the Gaza situation as “horrible,” Putin suggested that the Palestinian Authority, which currently governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should ideally oversee Gaza’s administration.

He emphasised that the conflict can only be resolved through the creation of a Palestinian state.

Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people across Gaza on Thursday, the territory's civil defence agency and hospitals said, including an employee of the French charity Doctors Without Borders.

The civil defence agency, a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, said the deaths were caused "by continuous Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip since dawn," specifying that 10 people, including at least one child, were killed in Gaza City.

Several hospitals confirmed to AFP news agency that they had received 10 bodies in Gaza City, 14 in central Gaza, and 28 in the territory's south.

They reported that some were killed in air strikes, others by drone fire and shootings.

The Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis reported nearly 30 deaths, including 14 killed by "Israeli gunfire" targeting Palestinians waiting for food distribution in the Al-Tina and Morag areas.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah said it had received nine bodies after several strikes on nearby areas.

Doctors Without Borders on Thursday said an Israeli strike had killed one its workers, the 14th member of the medical charity to have died since the beginning of the war in Gaza.

The strike also wounded four others, one of whom was in a serious condition with shrapnel wounds, said a statement by the group, which goes by the French acronym MSF.

The United Nations and rights groups have frequently condemned the high death toll of humanitarians and aid workers in the Palestinian territory, as Israel pursues its offensive.

"The attack took place on a street where our teams were waiting to take a bus to the MSF field hospital in Deir el-Balah, Gaza," the charity said. "All staff were wearing MSF vests, clearly identifying them as medical humanitarian workers."

The death of occupational therapist Omar Hayek, 42 comes less than two weeks after that of his colleague Hussein Alnajjar, also in Deir el-Balah, MSF said.

"Omar was a quiet man of profound kindness and utter professionalism," the charity said, adding that he had dedicated "his life to restoring strength and dignity to thousands of patients".

This morning, an attack carried out by Israeli forces killed Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff member, Omar Hayek, and seriously injured four others. The attack took place on a street where our teams were waiting to take a bus to the MSF field hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza.…

— MSF International (@MSF) October 2, 2025

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Thursday there could be no future role for Hamas in Gaza, as the Palestinian group was weighing its response to US President Donald Trump's peace plan.

"Hamas has no role in the day after," Abdelatty said at a conference in Paris.

"This is a full agreement among us, as Arabs, as Muslims, and even among Hamas people themselves. They understand very well that they have no role for the day after, and this is a fact."

Thousands mobilised in Italy Thursday in support of the Gaza aid flotilla ahead of a strike in solidarity with activists, as the government repeated its criticism of the flotilla's attempt to reach Gaza.

As dusk fell in Rome, several thousand protesters gathered near the Colosseum in solidarity with the flotilla and against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's support of Israel -- a day after a similar protest Wednesday evening.

In Milan, an estimated five thousand protesters marched towards the Duomo, blocking traffic during rush hour, according to local news agency AGI.

A general strike has been called by Italian trade unions for Friday.

Earlier Thursday, Italy said Israel had detained 40 Italians from the flotilla, as Meloni at a European Union meeting in Denmark again criticized their efforts.

"Obviously we will do everything we can to ensure these people can return to Italy as soon as possible," Meloni told reporters.

But, she added: "I continue to believe that all this brings no benefit to the Palestinian people".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Israeli naval forces Thursday for intercepting a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, as authorities prepared to deport pro-Palestine activists aboard the vessels.

The Global Sumud Flotilla of around 45 vessels began its voyage last month, with politicians and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg heading to Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has set in.

The Israeli navy has intercepted vessel after vessel at sea since Wednesday, after warning the activists against entering waters it says fall under its blockade, with Thunberg's boat among those stopped from going further.

"I commend the soldiers and commanders of the navy who carried out their mission on Yom Kippur in the most professional and efficient manner," Netanyahu said in a statement.

"Their important action prevented dozens of vessels from entering the war zone and repelled a campaign of delegitimisation against Israel."

Israel said it would deport pro-Palestine activists on the flotilla to Europe, adding that none of the vessels had breached its maritime blockade of the territory.

"One last vessel of this provocation remains at a distance. If it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented," the foreign ministry said.

Greta Thunberg from the flotilla: “I'm not scared of Israel. I’m scared of a world that has seemingly lost all sense of humanity.”
pic.twitter.com/ceb0c376aW

— Matt Kennard (@kennardmatt) September 26, 2025

Nearly 42,000 people, a quarter of them children, have suffered "life-changing injuries" including amputations, and head and spinal cord injuries in Israel's war in Gaza, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

A fresh analysis from the United Nations' health agency found that a quarter of those hurt over the two-year conflict have injuries that will seriously impact the rest of their lives.

"Life-long rehabilitation will be required," Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO's representative in the Palestinian territories, told a press conference.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Thursday that Cairo was working with Qatar and Turkey to convince Hamas to accept US President Donald Trump's plan to end a nearly two-year-old war in Gaza.

"We are meeting with them. We are coordinating with our brothers in Qatar and also our colleagues in Turkey, in order to, you know, convince Hamas to respond positively with this plan," said Abdelatty, speaking at the French Institute of International Relations.

The White House unveiled earlier this week a 20-point document that called for an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas disarmament and a transitional government led by an international body.

Abdelatty said that while he was broadly supportive of Trump's proposal for Gaza, more talks were needed on it.

"There are a lot of holes that need to be filled, we need more discussions on how to implement it especially on two important issues - governance and security arrangements. We are supportive of the Trump plan and the vision to end war and need to move forward," said Abdelatty.

France's top diplomat said Thursday that Hamas had lost its fight in Gaza and must accept "surrender" under a plan put forward by US President Donald Trump.

"Hamas bears a very heavy responsibility for the catastrophe experienced by the Palestinians. It has lost. It must accept its own surrender," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told AFP in Saudi Arabia, pointing to a recent UN resolution calling for Hamas to be excluded from the leadership of a future Palestinian state.

The Netherlands will treat a small number of children with life-threatening injuries sustained in Gaza, the government announced Thursday, reversing its previous policy and joining several other European countries.

Children requiring "complex, highly specialised care, who are in immediate danger of death and for whom no immediate assistance is currently available in the region, can be temporarily helped in the Netherlands," the government said.

The number of children would be "very limited" and the availability of care for Dutch children would also be taken into account, added authorities.

It was not immediately clear when the policy would come into force, but Foreign Minister David van Weel said it would be "between days and weeks."

The Dutch government had previously opposed bringing children from Gaza for medical treatment, arguing it was more efficient to care for them closer to home.

Gaza's Ministry of Health has said that in the last 24 hours, Israeli attacks have killed 77 Palestinians and injured a further 222.

The United States hopes and expects Hamas militants to approve its plan for Gaza and President Donald Trump will draw a red line for any response from the Palestinian militant group, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.

"It's a red line that the president of the United States is going to have to draw, and I'm confident that he will," Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News when asked about Hamas potentially walking away from the plan.

Trump gave Hamas three to four days on Tuesday to accept a US-backed peace plan for Gaza.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday football "cannot solve geopolitical problems", as he comes under pressure to suspend Israel over the Palestinian conflict.

The sport's world governing body said in a statement that at a meeting of the FIFA Council, Infantino "stressed the importance of promoting peace and unity, particularly in the context of the ongoing situation in Gaza".

Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed 45 Palestinians since dawn, according to Al Jazeera, citing medical sources.

The number includes 13 people who were killed while seeking aid in the south of the enclave.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas will visit Rome next month to discuss the Gaza peace plan among other subjects, Italy's foreign minister said Thursday.

"On November 7, we will gather in Rome for President Abbas' visit to continue the dialogue and work together to strengthen the Palestinian National Authority," Antonio Tajani told parliament.

A spokesman for the foreign ministry said that among the discussions would be US President Donald Trump's peace plan to end the Hamas-Israel war, which Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government supports.

Israeli authorities have already begun deportation and detention hearings for participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla at Ashdod port, without giving prior notice to their lawyers.

Adalah said on Thursday that it had received phone calls from detainees who said they were being questioned by immigration officials while denied access to legal counsel.

Adalah described the move as a serious breach of due process and a violation of the participants' fundamental rights, and said it would continue efforts to secure access and pursue legal action as needed.

"This constitutes a grave violation of due process and a denial of the participants’ fundamental rights. Adalah will continue to seek access and will take legal action as necessary," the group said.

Qatar's foreign ministry has condemned Israel's interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, calling the mass seizure a violation of maritime safety and freedom of navigation.

In a statement, the ministry demanded the immediate release of all detainees and accountability for those responsible.

It urged the international community to assume its "moral and legal responsibilities" by taking firm action against what it described as Israel’s repeated breaches of international law.

The ministry also stressed the need to guarantee the safe and uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid to every part of the Gaza Strip.

Statement | Qatar Strongly Condemns Israeli Interception of Global Sumud Flotilla#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/44cSqRvuui

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) October 2, 2025

Israel's interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla has sparked condemnation from Amnesty International, which called it a blatant assault on peaceful activists carrying aid to Gaza.

Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said the raid showed Israel's determination to enforce its blockade and continue deliberately starving Palestinians, in violation of international law and binding ICJ orders.

"By continuing to actively block vital aid to a population against whom Israel is committing genocide, including by inflicting famine, Israel is once again demonstrating its utter contempt for the legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice and its own obligations as the occupying power to ensure Palestinians in Gaza have access to sufficient food and lifesaving humanitarian assistance," Callamard said.

The flotilla's passengers included doctors, parliamentarians, and human rights defenders from over 40 countries, who Amnesty says should be released immediately.

The group warned that the detention of activists was not only unlawful but also part of a wider strategy to intimidate and silence critics of Israel's war on Gaza.

Amnesty urged world governments to move beyond words and pressure Israel to end its blockade and allow vital aid into Gaza.

Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 Palestinians since dawn, according to Al Jazeera, citing hospital sources.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday condemned Israeli aggression in intercepting some 40 boats carrying aid and foreign activists to Gaza, saying it showed Israel's government has no intention of letting hopes for peace grow.

In a speech to officials from his ruling AK Party in Ankara, Erdogan said that Turkey was taking all measures to ensure that Turkish nationals in the flotilla are not harmed.

South Africa on Thursday called on Israel to release activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla including Nelson Mandela's grandson, saying Israel's interception of the Gaza-bound aid boats was a grave offence and violation of international law.

"The interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla is another grave offence by Israel (against) global solidarity and sentiment that is aimed at relieving suffering in Gaza and advancing peace in the region," President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement.

Ramaphosa said Israeli forces' interception of the flotilla in international waters violated an ICJ injunction that humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow unimpeded.

Before leaving South Africa to join the flotilla, Mandela's grandson Nkosi Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela told Reuters that Palestinians' lives under Israeli occupation were worse than anything Black South Africans experienced under apartheid.

Four children have been killed in an Israeli attack on the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa, which reported that the four were brothers from the Al-Nabahin family and were collecting firewood north of the camp at the time of the attack.

The Istanbul chief prosecutor's office on Thursday announced that it had opened an investigation after Israeli forces arrested Turkish citizens on board a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying activists and humanitarian aid.

The probe concerns "24 Turkish citizens arrested following the attack carried out by elements of the Israeli navy in international waters against the Global Sumud flotilla", a statement said, according to Turkish media.

It cited the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and said it would look into "crimes of deprivation of liberty, hijacking or detention of means of transport, aggravated looting, material damage, and torture".

Turkish media said 30 Turkish citizens in all were arrested and taken by Israeli forces for deportation to Europe.

Spain summoned Israel's top representative in Madrid on Thursday after Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying activists and humanitarian aid to the devastated Palestinian territory, the foreign minister said.

"Today I summoned the charge d'affaires here in Madrid," Jose Manuel Albares told public broadcaster TVE, saying 65 Spaniards were travelling with the flotilla.

Israel withdrew its ambassador to Madrid last year after Spain recognised a Palestinian state.

Australia said on Thursday it was aware of reports of "detainments" by Israeli forces on the flotilla carrying foreign activists and aid bound for Gaza, and stood ready to provide consular assistance to its affected citizens on board.

"Australia calls on all parties to respect international law, to ensure the safety and humane treatment of those involved," the foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters.

The British government is "very concerned" about Israel's interception of an international aid flotilla bound for Gaza, the Foreign Office said on Thursday, adding that it had made clear to Israel that the situation should be resolved safely.

Organisers of Global Sumud Flotilla, which is transporting medicine and food to Gaza, said earlier that Israeli navy forces stopped several of its boats, and that they were using "active aggression".

"We are very concerned about the situation with the Sumud flotilla, we are in touch with the families of a number of British nationals involved," the British foreign office said in a statement. "The aid carried by the flotilla should be turned over to humanitarian organisations on the ground to be delivered safely into Gaza."

Israeli foreign ministry said on X several vessels were "safely stopped" and passengers were being "transferred" to an Israeli port.

Brazil issued a condemnation on Wednesday after the Israeli navy intercepted a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, with several Brazilian nationals on board including a lawmaker.

Brazil "deplores the Israeli government's military action, which violates rights and endangers the physical well-being of peaceful protesters," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The responsibility for the safety of those detained now rests with Israel," it added.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira earlier said his government had communicated "directly" to Israel its concern for the 15 Brazilians taking part in the flotilla, who include deputy Luizianne Lins.

Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed 85 Palestinians since dawn, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing medical sources.

53 Palestinians were killed in the north of the enclave, with 38 bodies being received at the al-Ahli Hospital, 15 at the Al-Shifa Hospital.

28 others were killed in the centre of the strip, while four were killed in the south.

Hamas on Wednesday called Israel's interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla a "crime of piracy and maritime terrorism against civilians", urging "all defenders of freedom in the world" to denounce it.

This interception "in international waters, as well as the arrest of activists and journalists" aboard the ships "constitutes a treacherous act of aggression", "which adds to the dark record of crimes committed" by Israel, the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.

Israel Defence Minister Israel Gatz has issued a chilling warning to the people of Gaza City amid a devastating bombardment of residential areas.

Katz issued a statement last night warning via X that civilians remaining in the city will be treated as terrorists, as dozens were killed in one of the heaviest bombardments of Gaza City since the offensive began.

"This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south and leave Hamas terrorists isolated in Gaza City itself, facing the IDF's ongoing operations at full force," he tweeted.

"Those who remain in Gaza will be considered terrorists and terror supporters. The IDF is prepared for all possibilities and is determined to continue its operations—until all hostages are returned and Hamas is disarmed, on the path to ending the war."