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Israel intercepted a Gaza-bound aid boat on Monday morning, preventing the activists onboard, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory.The Madleen departed from Italy on June 1 aiming to bring awareness to food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has called the “hungriest place on Earth”. After 21 months of war, the UN has warned the territory’s entire population is at risk of famine.AFP lost contact with the Madleen early Monday morning. At around 3:02 am CET (0102 GMT), Israeli forces “forcibly intercepted” the vessel in international waters as it was approaching Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement. “If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,” Thunberg said in a pre-recorded video shared by the coalition.The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the diversion, saying in a statement the boat was being taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod.The Israeli government had vowed to prevent the “unauthorised” ship from breaching the naval blockade of Gaza, urging it to turn back.On Sunday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the blockade, in place since years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.After diverting the boat, Israel’s foreign ministry posted a picture of the activists all in orange life jackets being offered water and sandwiches.”All the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed,” the ministry wrote on social media, adding that it expected the activists to return to their home countries.”The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” it added.Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.It recently allowed humanitarian deliveries to resume after barring them for more than two months and began working with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).But humanitarian agencies have criticised the GHF and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.It said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.- ‘Risked their lives’ for food -Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.Witness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP that “people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah” in the early morning.”After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire,” he said.The Israeli military said it fired on people who “continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers” despite warnings.The GHF said in a statement there had been no incidents “at any of our three sites” on Sunday.Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body bags.”I can’t see you like this,” said Lin al-Daghma by her father’s body.She spoke of the struggle to access food aid after the two-months Israeli blockade, despite the recent easing.At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan told AFP she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site “because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting. I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families”.- Sinwar -Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, presumed Hamas leader in Gaza, in an “underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis”, in southern Gaza.The military, which until Sunday had not confirmed his death, said Israeli forces killed Sinwar on May 13.Sinwar was the younger brother of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israel of masterminding the 2023 attack that triggered the war.The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 54,880 people, the majority civilians, have been killed in the territory since the start of the war. The UN considers these figures reliable.After the deaths of several Hamas leaders, Mohammed Sinwar was thought to be at the heart of decisions on indirect negotiations with Israel.The military said that alongside Sinwar’s body, forces had found “additional intelligence” at the Khan Yunis site “underneath the hospital, right under the emergency room”.Experts said he likely took over as the head of Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, after its leader Mohammed Deif was killed by Israel.The Palestinian group has remained tight-lipped over the names of its top ranks.

Israel said it diverted a Gaza-bound boat on Monday after the activists onboard, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, said they were intercepted as they sought to provide relief to the blockaded Palestinian territory.The Madleen departed from Italy on June 1 to bring awareness to food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has referred to as the “hungriest place on Earth”, with the entire population at risk of famine.The Israeli government had directed its forces to stop the “celebrities yacht” from reaching Gaza.AFP lost contact with the activists onboard the Madleen early Monday morning after the organisers said alarms sounded and life jackets were being prepared.”If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,” Thunberg said in a pre-recorded video shared by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the activist group operating the vessel.In a statement, the coalition said the Israeli military intercepted the Madleen around 3:02 am CET (0102 GMT) just off the coast of Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry said it had redirected the boat towards Israeli shores, and expected those onboard to return to their home countries.”All the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed. They were provided with sandwiches and water,” the ministry posted on X.”The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” the ministry added.Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza, after a more than two-month total blockade led to widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.It has recently started working with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to distribute aid via a handful of centres in south and central Gaza.But humanitarian agencies have criticised the GHF and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.It said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.- ‘Risked their lives’ for food -Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.Witness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP that “people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah” in the early morning.”After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire,” he said.The Israeli military said it fired on people who “continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers” despite warnings.The GHF said in a statement there had been no incidents “at any of our three sites” on Sunday.It said it had distributed more than a million meals, including more than 600,000 through a trial of “direct to community distribution” via “community leaders”.Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body bags.”I can’t see you like this,” said Lin al-Daghma by her father’s body.She spoke of the struggle to access food aid after more than two months of a total Israeli blockade of Gaza, despite a recent easing.At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan told AFP she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site “because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting. I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families”.- Sinwar -Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, presumed Hamas leader in Gaza, in an “underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis”, in southern Gaza.The military, which until Sunday had not confirmed his death, said Israeli forces killed Sinwar on May 13.Sinwar was the younger brother of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israel of masterminding the 2023 attack that triggered the war.The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 54,880 people, the majority civilians, have been killed in the territory since the start of the war. The UN considers these figures reliable.After the deaths of several Hamas leaders, Mohammed Sinwar was thought to be at the heart of decisions on indirect negotiations with Israel.The military said that alongside Sinwar’s body, forces had found “additional intelligence” at the Khan Yunis site “underneath the hospital, right under the emergency room”.Experts said he likely took over as the head of Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, after its leader Mohammed Deif was killed by Israel.The Palestinian group has remained tight-lipped over the names of its top ranks.

Iran’s parliament speaker said on Sunday that the latest US proposal for a nuclear deal does not include the lifting of sanctions, state media reported as negotiations appeared to have hit a roadblock.The two foes have held five rounds of Omani-mediated talks since April, seeking to replace a landmark agreement between Tehran and world powers that set restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief, before US President Donald Trump abandoned the accord in 2018 during his first term.In a video aired on Iranian state TV, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that “the US plan does not even mention the lifting of sanctions”.He called it a sign of dishonesty, accusing the Americans of seeking to impose a “unilateral” agreement that Tehran would not accept.”The delusional US president should know better and change his approach if he is really looking for a deal,” Ghalibaf said.On May 31, after the fifth round of talks, Iran said it had received “elements” of a US proposal, with officials later taking issue with “ambiguities” in the draft text.The US and its Western allies have long accused the Islamic republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a charge Iran has consistently denied, insisting that its atomic programme was solely for peaceful purposes.Key issues in the negotiations have been the removal of biting economic sanctions and uranium enrichment.Tehran says it has the right to enrich uranium under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while the Trump administration has called any Iranian enrichment a “red line”.Trump, who has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions on Iran since taking office in January, has repeatedly said it will not be allowed any uranium enrichment under a potential deal.On Tuesday, Iran’s top negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said the country “will not ask anyone for permission to continue enriching uranium”.- IAEA meeting -According to the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon state in the world that enriches uranium up to 60 percent — close to the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday rejected the latest US proposal and said enrichment was “key” to Iran’s nuclear programme.The IAEA Board of Governors is scheduled to meet in Vienna starting Monday and discuss Iran’s nuclear activities.On Sunday the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran warned it could reduce its level of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog if it adopts a resolution against it.”Certainly, the IAEA should not expect the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue its broad and friendly cooperation,” the Iranian agency’s spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told state TV.Araghchi on Friday accused European powers of “opting for malign action against Iran at the IAEA Board of Governors”, warning on X that “Iran will react strongly against any violation of its rights”.A quarterly report from the IAEA issued last week cited a “general lack of cooperation” from Iran and raised concerns over undeclared nuclear material.Tehran has rejected the report as politically motivated and based on “forged documents” it said had been provided by its arch foe Israel.

Israel on Sunday ordered the military to stop a humanitarian ship carrying activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, breaking the blockade of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.”I have instructed the military to prevent the Madleen flotilla from reaching Gaza,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.”Turn back because you will not reach Gaza,” Katz added, calling the activists “Hamas propaganda mouthpieces”.The Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Italy on June 1 with the aim of delivering aid and challenging the Israeli blockade, which has been in place for years even before the Israel-Hamas war since October 2023.Organisers said Saturday the vessel had entered Egyptian waters and was nearing Gaza, where the war has entered its 21st month.”We are not armed. There is only humanitarian aid,” European Parliament member Rima Hassan told AFP from the boat, vowing to “stay mobilised until the last minute”.The coalition said in a statement on X it expected “interception and an attack from Israel at any moment”, calling for protection from the governments of those on board, who are nationals of Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands.Katz said that “Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade of Gaza, which is aimed at preventing weapons from reaching Hamas — a murderous terrorist group holding our hostages and committing war crimes.”In Gaza, where the United Nations has repeatedly warned of famine, the civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.- ‘Risked their lives’ for food -Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.The GHF has come under criticism from humanitarian agencies and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.Witness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP that “people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah” in the early morning.”After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire,” he said.The Israeli military said it fired on people who “continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers” despite warnings.The GHF said in a statement there had been no incidents “at any of our three sites” on Sunday.It said it had distributed more than a million meals, including more than 600,000 through a trial of “direct to community distribution” via “community leaders”.Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body bags.”I can’t see you like this,” said Lin al-Daghma by her father’s body.She spoke of the struggle to access food aid after more than two months of a total Israeli blockade of Gaza, despite a recent easing.Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to the civil defence agency.At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan told AFP she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site “because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting. I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families”.- Sinwar -Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, presumed Hamas leader in Gaza, in an “underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis”, in southern Gaza.The military, which until Sunday had not confirmed his death, said Israeli forces killed Sinwar on May 13.Sinwar was the younger brother of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israel of masterminding the 2023 attack that triggered the war.The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 54,880 people, the majority civilians, have been killed in the territory since the start of the war. The UN considers these figures reliable.After the deaths of several Hamas leaders, Mohammed Sinwar was thought to be at the heart of decisions on indirect negotiations with Israel.The military said that alongside Sinwar’s body, forces had found “additional intelligence” at the Khan Yunis site “underneath the hospital, right under the emergency room”.Experts said he likely took over as the head of Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, after its leader Mohammed Deif was killed by Israel.The Palestinian group has remained tight-lipped over the names of its top ranks.

US airlines and aerospace manufacturers insist they have no use for tariff protections, warning that the proposed Trump administration levies could eat into the healthy trade surplus the sector has enjoyed for more than 70 years.At the request of President Donald Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s department launched an investigation on May 1 to determine …

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Gaza’s civil defence agency said Saturday that Israeli forces had killed at least 36 Palestinians, six of them in a shooting near a US-backed aid distribution centre.The Israeli military told AFP that troops had fired “warning shots” at individuals it said were “advancing in a way that endangered the troops”.The shooting deaths were the latest reported near the aid centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) in the southern district of Rafah, and came after it resumed distributions following a brief suspension in the wake of similar deaths earlier this week. Meanwhile, an aid boat with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, was nearing Gaza in a bid to highlight the plight of Palestinians in the face of an Israeli blockade that has only been partially eased.Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at around 7:00 am (0400 GMT), “six people were killed and several others wounded by the forces of the Israeli occupation near the Al-Alam roundabout”, where they had gathered to seek humanitarian aid from the distribution centre around a kilometre away.AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls compiled by the civil defence agency or the circumstances of the deaths it reports.Samir Abu Hadid, who was there early Saturday, told AFP that thousands of people had gathered near the roundabout.”As soon as some people tried to advance towards the aid centre, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire from armoured vehicles stationed near the centre, firing into the air and then at civilians,” Abu Hadid said.The GHF said in a statement it had not distributed aid on Saturday because of “direct threats” from Hamas.Later Saturday, the Israeli army said an operation in Gaza City resulted in the killing of Asaad Abu Sharia, reportedly head of the Mujahideen Brigades.The armed group is close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad that Israel has also accused over deaths of hostages seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the border.The army said he had taken part in the bloody attack on Nir Oz when Hamas launched its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. It said he was “directly implicated” in the killings of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, a family who became a symbol of seized hostages for many in Israel. – Activist boat nears Gaza -The GHF, officially a private effort with opaque funding, began operations in late May as Israel partially eased a more than two-month-long aid blockade.UN agencies and major aid groups have declined to work with it, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals.On Saturday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that the overall toll for the Gaza war had reached 54,772, the majority civilians. The UN considers these figures reliable.The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. Israel has come under increasing international criticism over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the UN warned in May that the entire population was at risk of famine.The aid boat Madleen, organised by an international activist coalition, was sailing towards Gaza on Saturday, aiming to breach Israel’s naval blockade and deliver aid to the territory, organisers said.”We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast,” German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP, saying they expected to reach Gaza by Monday.The Palestinian territory was under Israeli naval blockade even before Hamas’s October 2023 attack and the Israeli military has made clear it intends to enforce it.A 2010 commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach Israel’s naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead.- Evacuation order -The Israeli military has stepped up its operations in Gaza in recent weeks in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war.On Saturday, the military issued evacuation orders for neighbourhoods in northern Gaza, saying they had been used for rocket attacks.Also on Saturday, Hamas released a photograph of one of the remaining hostages, Matan Zangauker, appearing to be in poor health, with a warning that he would not survive.His mother, Einav Zangauker, speaking at a protest in Tel Aviv, said “I can no longer bear this nightmare. The angel of death, Netanyahu, continues to sacrifice the hostages”.During the October 2023 attack, militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 31 the Israeli military says are dead.