Sumud Flotilla vessels attacked by Israel as Gaza aggression contiues

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Crew from the Gaza Sumud Flotilla said that the status of activists on board the Alma vessel remains unconfirmed, after Israel intercepted and attacked a number of ships from the flotilla. 

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday expelled all remaining Israeli diplomats in the country over the interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla by Israeli forces.

The leftist Petro severed relations with Israel last year but four diplomats remained posted in the country, a Colombian source said.

Petro said two Colombian women had been detained by Israel in "international waters" and called for their "immediate release."

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.

Turkey's foreign affairs ministry on Wednesday accused Israel of "an act of terrorism" by intercepting an activist flotilla bound for Gaza with humanitarian aid.

"The attack by Israeli forces in international waters against the Global Sumud flotilla, which was on its way to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, is an act of terrorism that constitutes the most serious violation of international law and endangers the lives of innocent civilians," the ministry said in a statement.

Israel's foreign ministry on Wednesday said Israel had stopped vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla bound for Gaza, which aimed to break Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory.

"Already several vessels of the... flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port. Greta and her friends are safe and healthy," the ministry said on social media, referring to Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who is aboard the flotilla.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani discussed with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday his plan to end the war in Gaza in a phone call, the Emiri Diwan said in a statement.

Sheikh Tamim reiterated Qatar's support for peace efforts and expressed confidence the countries backing the plan could reach a just settlement that guarantees regional security and stability and protects Palestinian rights, it added. 

Italian unions called a general strike for Friday in solidarity with the international aid flotilla for Gaza, while protests sprang up in a number of cities late on Wednesday after reports that the ships had been intercepted by military personnel.

In the southern city of Naples, demonstrators got into the main railway station and halted train traffic, while police surrounded the Termini railway station in Rome after protesters gathered close to entrances.

"The aggression against civilian ships that were carrying Italian citizens is an extremely serious matter," the CGIL union said, calling the strike which other smaller unions said they would join.

Status of Global Sumud Flotilla crew 'unconfirmed' after Israeli naval forces board several vessels.

Gaza Sumud Flotilla organisers say that Israeli forces have boarded some of their vessels, in the latest development concerning the Gaza-bound flotilla.

"The warships are moving in to intercept the flotilla -- only 81 nautical miles remain to Gaza," said the Maghreb contingent of the Global Sumud Flotilla in a statement.

French politician Marie Mesmeur and Franco-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan also reported that their boats were being intercepted.

The Israeli navy has warned a Gaza-bound aid flotilla to change course, the foreign ministry said Wednesday as the vessels approached waters under an Israeli blockade.

"The Israeli Navy has reached out to the... flotilla and asked them to change course," the ministry said in a statement.

"Israel has informed the flotilla that it is approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful naval blockade."

A Gaza Sumud Flotilla activists said that Israeli vessels are surrounding one of the ships from the flotilla.

Yasemin Acar, a member of the flotilla's steering committee, said Israeli naval forces are now surrounding the Alma vessel, in an Instagram post late on Wednesday. 

"This is against international law. This is against our will - we are being kidnapped," she said.

The Israeli navy is expected to begin intercepting dozens of boats from the Global Sumud Flotilla within an hour, organizers said, adding that a state of emergency has been declared on board their vessels attempting to bring aid to Gaza.

They said Israeli military vessels had approached to within about 10 miles, marking a critical moment as the flotilla nears a naval blockade. 

Israeli forces have struck central Gaza's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for the 15th time since the war began, with the latest attack taking place on Wednesday, according to the Gaza government media office.

The media office said the latest strike struck an area near the new Internal Medicine Department, where displaced civilians had gathered for treatment.

The attack caused severe injuries and damage, it added, and risked the lives of dozens of patients as well as more than 70 journalists covering Israel's latest assaults.

Three suspected members of Palestinian armed group Hamas were arrested in Berlin Wednesday for allegedly planning attacks on Jewish and Israeli sites, German prosecutors said, with weapons and ammunition also seized.

The suspects were "foreign operatives" of Hamas, who have "have been involved in procuring firearms and ammunition for the organisation" in Germany, said federal prosecutors in a statement.

An AK-47 assault rifle and several pistols, along with a "considerable amount" of ammunition, were seized when the suspects were arrested, it said.

"The weapons were to be used by Hamas for deadly attacks targeting Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany," it said.

(AFP and TNA staff)

At least one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike in Lebanon on Wednesday evening, according to Lebanese health ministry.

Five others were wounded in the attack, which took place in the village of Kafra in the south of the country.

Two Palestinians, one of them a child, have died of malnutrition in Gaza, the local health ministry said earlier today.

Since the start of the war, 455 people have starved to death, including 151 children.

The UN last month declared the whole of Gaza to be in a state of famine, and warned that hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation.

Israel has killed at least 103 civilians in Lebanon since agreeing a ceasefire with Hezbollah last November, the UN said Wednesday, demanding a halt to the ongoing suffering.

"We are still seeing devastating impacts of jet and drone strikes in residential areas, as well as near UN peacekeepers in the south," UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Trump administration sanctions announced Wednesday target dozens of companies and individuals involved in Iran's missile and military aircraft production, a new punishment intended to support recently reimposed UN penalties against Tehran over its nuclear program.

The "snapback" UN measures freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures.

And now, on Wednesday, the Treasury Department named 21 entities and 17 individuals involved in networks that have helped procure technology for advanced surface-to-air missile systems and the illegal purchase of a US-manufactured helicopter.

The sanctions include penalties on a network that works out of Iran, Hong Kong, and China for sourcing US-origin, dual-use electronics for an Iranian-controlled firm that produces equipment for the Iranian military.

In addition, the Treasury Department is sanctioning a group operating out of Iran, Germany, Turkey, Portugal, and Uruguay that procured a US-origin helicopter, for the Iranian military.

(Associated Press)

The Israeli military said Wednesday afternoon that it had intercepted a drone that it said had been launched from Yemen.

Medics say that 61 people have now been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza today, Al Jazeera is reporting.

Among the dead are 44 people who were killed in Gaza City.

Amnesty International has urged the international community to prevent Israel attacking the Global Sumud Flotilla as it nears the Gaza coast.

"States have a responsibility to guarantee the flotilla’s safe passage. They must step up pressure to protect the flotilla and demand an end of Israel's genocide, and of its unlawful blockade once and for all," it said in a statement on social media.

As the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla - the largest initiative of its kind - is expected to enter a high-risk zone in the Mediterranean where Israeli forces may attempt to intercept it as they did before.

The flotilla, carrying urgently needed food, medicine, and humanitarian… pic.twitter.com/EtnqBNIcq0

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) October 1, 2025

Five Palestinians have been killed in two separate Israeli drone strikes in Gaza on Wednesday, according to emergency workers.

Three people were killed and others injured in an attack on the Al Rashid coastal road, while two died in a drone strike in the town of Az-Zawayda in central Gaza.

Israeli forces have killed at least 51 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn on Wednesday, including 38 in Gaza City, medical sources tell Al Jazeera.

The United States will regard "any armed attack" on Qatari territory as a threat to Washington and will provide the Gulf Arab state with security guarantees, the White House said on Wednesday, after an Israeli strike on the country last month.

"In light of the continuing threats to the State of Qatar posed by foreign aggression, it is the policy of the United States to guarantee the security and territorial integrity of the State of Qatar against external attack," said an Executive Order signed by US President Donald Trump on Monday and released on Wednesday.

(AFP)

The range of Iran's missiles will be increased to any point deemed necessary, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander told the semi-official Fars news agency on Wednesday, in response to what he said were Western demands to curb Tehran's missiles.

Western countries fear Iran's uranium enrichment programme could yield material for an atomic warhead and that it seeks to develop a ballistic missile to carry one. Tehran denies pursuing nuclear weapons.

Iranian missiles have a self-imposed range of 2,000 km, which officials in the past said was enough to protect the country as this range can cover the distance to Israel.

However, as launchers based in Iran's western provinces were targeted by Israeli fighter jets in June, Tehran gradually launched missiles from further east in its territory - which require longer range.

"Our missiles will reach the range that they need to," deputy inspector of the Khatam al-Anbiya central military headquarters Mohammadjafar Asadi told Fars news agency.

A senior Iraqi security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly, said a US withdrawal began weeks ago from Baghdad and from Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq.

"Only a very small number of advisers remain within the Joint Operations Command," the official said.

He added that some forces have redeployed to the city of Erbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, while others have left the country entirely, and that there is no accurate count of those who have withdrawn yet.

The official said the drawdown is proceeding according to agreed-upon schedules.

The U.S. military has begun drawing down its mission in Iraq under an agreement inked with the Iraqi government last year, officials said Wednesday.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Wednesday that the U.S. “will reduce its military mission in Iraq," reflecting "our combined success in fighting ISIS."

The move "marks an effort to transition to a lasting U.S.-Iraq security partnership in accordance with U.S. national interests, the Iraqi Constitution, and the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement," he said.

The statement added that Washington will maintain close coordination with Baghdad and coalition partners to ensure a "responsible transition."

It did not give details on the number of troops that have withdrawn to date or when the drawdown would be completed.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Turkey will not allow Syria's fragmentation or harm to its territorial integrity if diplomacy to implement an integration deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and Syria's government fails.

"We have engaged all channels of diplomacy both to preserve Syria's territorial integrity and prevent a terrorist structure from forming across our borders. We continue to use these channels with patience, sincerity, and common sense," Erdogan told an event to mark parliament's re-opening.

"If diplomatic initiatives are left unanswered, Turkey's policy and position are clear. Turkey will not allow a deja vu to take place in Syria," he added.

Ankara considers the SDF a terrorist organisation and has warned of military action if it does not integrate into Syria's state apparatus as per its agreement with Damascus.

Activists on board a flotilla of vessels sailing toward Gaza said they were prepared for the Israel navy to intervene as they approached the besieged Palestinian territory on Wednesday after a tense night in the Mediterranean Sea.

“Every minute we advance a little more,” Thiago Ávila, one of the flotilla leaders and spokespeople, told reporters Wednesday in an online news conference from aboard the Alma, one of the flotilla's motherships.

The ships were sailing in international waters north of Egypt on Wednesday morning and had entered what activists call a "danger zone" — which Israeli authorities had warned them not to cross and where the Israeli navy had stopped attempts by other flotillas in the past.

If undisturbed, the ships are to reach the shores of Gaza by Thursday morning, the group says.

However, activists said that was unlikely and that they were expecting Israeli authorities to try to stop them at any moment, as they have done in past attempts.

Iranian authorities on Wednesday approved a bill toughening penalties for those convicted of spying on behalf of Israel and the United States, months after the 12-day war between the foes.

The bill was presented to parliament on 23 June, as Iran and Israel were engaged in a war that saw unprecedented Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic, which the US briefly joined.

Iran's president must sign off on the bill before it goes into effect. It comes after dozens of people were captured by authorities on suspicion of spying for Israel and the United States in the aftermath of the war.

The text approving "tougher sanctions for spying and collaborating with the Zionist regime (Israel) and hostile countries, including the United States, on security and national interests" was approved, said the Guardians' Council, the body responsible for overseeing legislation.

It did not specify which other countries were considered "hostile", according to state news agency IRNA, but said "all deliberate assistance is condemned as corruption on Earth" -- one of the most serious charges in Iran, punishable by death.

(AFP)

Israeli forces have killed at least 51 people and injured 180 others in Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to the local health ministry.

This has increased the total death toll since 7 October 2023 to 66,148. More than 168,700 others have been wounded.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday that it has been forced to temporarily suspend operations in Gaza City and relocate staff due to Israel's intensifying assault on the area.

"The ICRC will continue to strive to provide support to civilians in Gaza City, whenever circumstances allow, from our offices in Deir al-Balah and Rafah, which remain fully operational," it said in a statement.

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières last week was forced to evacuate the city due to the offensive.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Italy and Greece on Wednesday called on Israel not to hurt activists aboard an international flotilla, which is bracing for Israeli action to prevent it from delivering aid to Gaza.

"(We) are calling on the Israeli authorities to ensure the safety and security of the participants and to allow for all consular protection measures," the two countries said in a joint statement issued by their respective foreign ministers.

Rome and Athens also called on activists to accept a compromise proposal to hand over aid to the Catholic Church, letting it distribute it in Gaza, and avoid a direct confrontation with Israel.

Flotilla members have repeatedly rejected the proposal, saying that a key part of their mission is to challenge and expose Israel's naval blockade on Gaza, which they consider unlawful.

(Reuters)

Israel will treat anyone remaining in Gaza City as "terrorists", Israel's far-right defence minister Israel Katz said Wednesday, demanding people flee to the south.

People still in the city have a "last opportunity" to leave, he said, adding that Israeli forces are close to encircling the urban area.

The military earlier announced it would close Rashid coastal road in Gaza to people moving north starting at midday.

"This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south and leave Hamas terrorists isolated in Gaza City, in the face of IDF activity that continues with full force," he said.

Anyone remaining will be treated as "terrorists and supporters of terror", he said.

Hamas is split on how to respond to Trump's ceasefire plan, with one group favouring unconditional acceptance and another wanting to make amendments, a source familiar with the negotiations told AFP.

"So far there are two views within Hamas: the first supports unconditional approval because the important thing is to have a ceasefire guaranteed by Trump, provided that the mediators guarantee Israel's implementation of the plan," the source said, also requesting anonymity for the same reasons.

But others have "great reservations on important clauses", the source added.

"They reject disarmament and for any Palestinian citizen to be taken away from Gaza," the source said.

"They support a conditional agreement with clarifications that take into account demands by Hamas and the resistance factions so that the occupation of the Gaza Strip is not legitimised while the resistance is criminalised," they added.

"Some factions reject the plan, but discussions are ongoing and things will become clearer soon."

(AFP and TNA staff)

Hamas officials want amendments to clauses on disarmament in US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, a Palestinian source close to the group's leadership told AFP on Wednesday.

Hamas negotiators held discussions Tuesday with Turkish, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Doha, the source said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters and adding the group needed "two or three days at most" to respond.

Trump's plan, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of captives by Hamas within 72 hours, the group's disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

But the Palestinian source said: "Hamas wants to amend some of the clauses such as the one on disarmament and the expulsion of Hamas and faction cadres."

Hamas leaders also want "international guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip" and guarantees of no assassinations inside or outside the territory.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Four displaced Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Wednesday, according to a source at Al-Aqsa Hospital.

Others were wounded in the attack, which targeted a camp housing displaced Palestinians.

At least 34 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza so far on Wednesday, according to medics.

Of these, 29 people were killed in Israel's brutal offensive on Gaza City.

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz called US President Donald Trump's peace plan the "best chance" to end the war in Gaza as he met Tuesday with relatives of German-Israeli captives held by Hamas.

Merz said that "Israel's support for the plan is a significant step forward", the chancellor's spokesman said in a statement. "Now Hamas must also agree to it and pave the way for peace."

(AFP and TNA staff)

The international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza said unidentified vessels approached some of its boats before dawn on Wednesday as it got closer to a zone where Israel has imposed a naval blockade on the war-stricken strip.

The Global Sumud Flotilla consists of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 people, among them parliamentarians, lawyers and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. It aims to break Israel's blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

"We continue to sail to Gaza approaching the 120 nautical mile mark, near the area where previous flotillas have been intercepted or attacked," organisers said in a statement.

It was not clear who operated the vessels that approached the flotilla. A video post on the flotilla's Instagram page said that an Israeli military vessel approached its boats, carrying out "dangerous manoeuvres" and damaging its communication systems before departing.

The post showed the silhouetted outline of what appeared to be a military vessel with a gun turret near the civilian vessels. Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.

Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reuters)

European football's governing body Uefa has postponed plans to hold a vote on suspending Israel in the wake of US president Donald Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan, according to The Times.

The organisation's executive committee had planned to hold an emergency meeting this week, where a majority of nations were expected to ban Israel for its genocidal assault on Gaza.

Senior Uefa officials have decided to cancel the meeting in the wake of the Trump administration's peace plan, though a it could still take place if Israel continues its actions, according to the British newspaper.

UN experts last week called on Uefa and Fifa to suspend Israel from global football after a commission of inquiry concluded that its forces had committed genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Two Palestinians have been killed in Israeli shelling in the Tal al-Hawa suburb, southwest of Gaza City, a source at Al-Shifa Hospital tells Al Jazeera.

Hamas is likely to reject the Trump administration's Gaza peace plan because it favours Israel and ignores Palestinian interests, a senior official has told the BBC.

The plan requires Palestinian armed groups to release the remaining Israeli captives and surrender their weapons but does not provide a timetable for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza or commit to establishing a Palestinian state.

The proposal would see a multinational security force deployed on the ground and install Donald Trump at the head of an international administration to run the territory, alongside former UK prime minister Tony Blair.

In an interview with the British broadcaster, the Hamas official said the plan "serves Israel's interests" and "ignores those of the Palestinian people", casting doubt on whether the group would agree to end the war on such terms.

Israel on Wednesday blocked the last remaining route for Palestinians living in south Gaza to access the north as it continues to force hundreds of thousands of people out of Gaza City.

In a statement, the military said it would close Rashid Street to people moving north from 0900 GMT, only allowing people to flee to the south amid its ongoing offensive.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Gaza City in recent weeks as Israeli warplanes intensify a punishing air campaign and ground troops close in on the city centre. Israeli forces have razed several suburbs to the ground and levelled dozens of high-rise residential blocks.

At least 23 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on Wednesday morning, most whom were in Gaza City, medical sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic.

Of the dead, 19 were killed in Gaza City.

Seven emergency workers were injured in Israeli shelling while trying to rescue people trapped in a school in the Zeitoun area of the city.