标签： Europe

In a major escalation of tensions over Israel’s two-decade blockade of the Gaza Strip, Israeli military forces completed the interception of all remaining vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international activist mission organized to challenge the long-running naval closure and draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian crisis facing Gaza’s nearly 2 million residents. The interdiction, carried out in international waters hundreds of kilometers off Gaza’s Mediterranean coast, has triggered widespread international condemnation and sharp diplomatic divisions over the operation.

The flotilla, which departed from Turkish ports last week, launched the multi-vessel mission to draw global attention to severe shortages of basic necessities in Gaza, including housing, food, and life-saving medical supplies. Israeli forces began halting flotilla vessels roughly 268 kilometers from Gaza’s coastline on Monday, when they intercepted and detained crews from approximately 41 boats off the coast of Cyprus. By Tuesday, all remaining vessels had been stopped.

Live streaming footage broadcast on the Global Sumud Flotilla’s official website showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding detained vessels, with unarmed activists wearing life vests complying by raising their hands. Soldiers proceeded to disable and destroy cameras mounted on the boats to document the mission. Flotilla organizers allege that Israeli troops fired rubber bullets at five of the intercepted boats, causing material damage to the vessels. The incident prompted Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to call for an urgent investigation into Israel’s use of force during the operation.

In the aftermath of the interceptions, the Global Sumud Flotilla confirmed that hundreds of activists from more than 40 countries are being forcibly transported by Israeli vessels to an undisclosed port. The detained cohort includes more than a dozen Irish citizens, among them the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has publicly condemned the interception of civilian boats in international waters as “absolutely unacceptable.”

The activist organization has issued urgent warnings about the well-being of detained crew members, pointing to testimonies from activists held during an earlier Israeli interception of a Gaza aid mission on April 30. Those accounts detailed repeated patterns of torture, severe physical abuse, and invasive sexual violence inflicted by Israeli forces during detention – allegations that Israeli officials have outright denied. The flotilla is demanding the immediate, unconditional release of all its detained participants, alongside the liberation of more than 9,000 Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel, and has called on global leaders to pressure Israel to meet these demands.

International reaction to the interception has been deeply divided. Turkey and the Palestinian group Hamas have labeled the operation an act of open piracy in international waters. Italy, Spain, and Indonesia have all joined calls for Israel to immediately release all detained activists and guarantee their physical safety. In contrast, the U.S. Treasury Department has announced new sanctions against four European activists who were aboard the flotilla, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent characterizing the mission’s participants as “pro-terror.”

Israeli officials have dismissed the entire flotilla initiative as “a provocation for the sake of provocation,” arguing that the vessels carried only a symbolic amount of aid and had no genuine intention of delivering humanitarian assistance to Gaza. The Israeli defense body that oversees humanitarian access to Gaza claims that sufficient aid is already entering the territory, noting that around 600 trucks of assistance cross into Gaza daily, a volume it says matches pre-war levels. However, this official account directly contradicts data published by the United Nations World Food Programme, which recorded a dramatic drop in humanitarian and commercial truck entries into Gaza during March, following the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Iran. The WFP data shows an average of only 112 trucks entered Gaza per day that month.

One Italian activist, Daniele Gallina, avoided detention after he and six other crew members diverted their sailboat to a Cypriot port due to unplanned technical issues. In an interview with the Associated Press, Gallina emphasized that the mission’s purpose extended far beyond delivering aid. “What matters is not only the aid itself, important as it is, but the structural change it represents. It is also about challenging the collaboration of our own governments with these policies,” he said. Gallina rejected Israeli claims that the flotilla was a provocative act, noting that the entire mission was “entirely pacifist” and carried no weapons. He added that Israel’s response to the civilian mission underscores the open disregard for international law targeting peaceful humanitarian efforts. Despite the interception of the entire flotilla, Gallina said activists remain fully determined to continue their campaign “until Gaza is reached.”

Background to the current confrontation dates back nearly 20 years. Israel imposed a naval blockade on Gaza after Hamas took control of the territory in 2007, and significantly tightened the restriction following the October 7, 2023, attacks led by Hamas on southern Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people and saw more than 250 people taken hostage. Israeli authorities justify the blockade as a necessary security measure to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas. Critics across the globe argue that the blockade amounts to unlawful collective punishment of Gaza’s entire civilian population. Egypt, which controls the only land border crossing into Gaza not administered by Israel, has also imposed severe restrictions on movement in and out of the territory.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, which is run by Hamas but staffed by medical professionals whose detailed casualty records are widely viewed as reliable by the international community, Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 72,700 people since the offensive began. The ministry does not publish a breakdown of casualties between civilians and combatants. The latest interception comes as global attention remains focused on efforts to secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, following months of devastating conflict.

The report was filed from Nicosia, Cyprus, by correspondent Hadjicostis, with additional reporting contributions from Associated Press journalists Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece, Giada Zampano in Rome, and Fatima Hussein in Washington, D.C.

In a sharp rebuke of Israeli military action in international waters, Ireland’s top political leaders have decried the detention of 12 Irish citizens who were part of a humanitarian aid convoy bound for Gaza, calling the move illegal, unacceptable, and a violation of international law.

The interception, carried out early Monday by Israeli forces, targeted the Global Sumud Flotilla, a 60-vessel collective organized to deliver critical aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza amid a lingering humanitarian crisis. Flotilla organizers confirmed that Israeli commandos boarded and seized 10 of the convoy’s boats while the group was operating in international waters. Among the detained Irish citizens is Dr. Margaret Connolly, the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly.

Speaking publicly about the incident, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Ireland’s head of government, emphasized that the aid mission was rooted in a legitimate effort to draw global attention to the catastrophic humanitarian situation unfolding in Gaza. “In the first instance, what happened is absolutely unacceptable and is wrong,” Martin stated, adding that participants had every right to engage in peaceful protest for the cause. The Irish government, he confirmed, will escalate the issue to the European Union to push for collective international action.

Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris went further, labeling Israel’s actions outright illegal. “My heart goes out to President Connolly and her family, and indeed all of the families of those detained,” Harris said, noting that the Irish government, opposition, and global observers have repeatedly condemned Israeli policy in Gaza, yet Israel has consistently ignored international condemnation. “That’s why I think it’s important that we look at the actions that can be taken,” he added.

For her part, President Catherine Connolly — currently on a scheduled three-day official visit to the United Kingdom — described the news of her sister’s detention as “quite upsetting.” While she expressed deep pride in her sister’s commitment to the humanitarian cause, she made clear that she is consumed by worry for her safety.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the interception, framing the operation as a necessary measure to counter what he called a “malicious plan” to break the blockade Israel has imposed on Hamas, the governing group in Gaza. The Israeli foreign ministry also pushed back against the need for the flotilla, claiming that Gaza is already “flooded with aid,” asserting that more than 1.5 million tonnes of aid and thousands of tonnes of medical supplies have entered the enclave over the past seven months.

That narrative directly contradicts recent assessments from the United Nations, which warned last week that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic despite an October 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The UN report highlighted that more than 2.1 million Palestinians — the vast majority of Gaza’s total population — have been displaced from their homes, with most forced to shelter in overcrowded tents or badly damaged buildings with no access to safer alternatives. Basic services remain severely compromised: clean water access is inconsistent, waste management systems are non-functional, and public health risks linked to unsanitary conditions and pest infestations continue to grow.

The current conflict traces its origins back to the October 7, 2023, attack led by Hamas on southern Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Israel’s subsequent large-scale military campaign in Gaza has left more than 72,770 people dead in the enclave, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

In a major development in a high-profile case that has gripped Spanish business and legal circles, Catalan regional police have arrested Jonathan Andic, 45-year-old vice chairman of Spanish fast fashion giant Mango and eldest son of the brand’s billionaire founder Isak Andic, in connection with his father’s fatal cliff fall in late 2024.

The incident first unfolded last December, when 71-year-old Isak Andic fell approximately 150 meters (nearly 500 feet) from a cliff while hiking in mountain terrain outside Barcelona. At the time, Jonathan Andic was the only person accompanying the retail tycoon and the sole witness to the accident. Law enforcement initially launched an inquiry into the death but closed the case within weeks, only to reopen the probe last March. By October, regional police confirmed they were re-examining the death as a suspected homicide, leading to this week’s arrest.

A spokesperson for the Catalan regional police force Mossos d’Esquadra, who requested anonymity in line with department protocol, confirmed Tuesday that the suspect has been transferred to court facilities in Martorell, the eastern Spanish city where the investigation is currently based. The spokesperson also noted that a court-ordered nondisclosure order remains in effect for the case, barring the release of additional details about the ongoing probe.

Beyond the legal investigation, the case casts an unexpected shadow over a landmark year for Mango, the retail empire built by Isak Andic over four decades. Born to a Turkish family, Andic relocated to Spain in his youth and opened the brand’s first boutique in Barcelona in 1984. Under his leadership, Mango expanded from a single local store to one of Europe’s most dominant fast fashion players, with a global footprint spanning 2,900 locations across 120 international markets. Most recently, the company announced a record-breaking 2025 fiscal performance, with total annual revenue climbing 11% year-over-year to nearly 3.8 billion euros (equivalent to 4.4 billion U.S. dollars).

As heir to his father’s estate and a top executive at the firm, Jonathan Andic has held a key leadership role at Mango for years. The arrest marks an unprecedented twist in a case that has drawn widespread public attention across Spain, as the investigation proceeds under court-ordered secrecy.

A deadly scuba diving incident off the coast of the Maldives last week has left five people dead, with recovery teams continuing the grim work of retrieving the remaining victims trapped in a deep underwater cave. On Tuesday, a team of specialized Finnish divers successfully pulled the bodies of two Italian divers from the third chamber of the infamous local site known as Shark Cave, capping a difficult two-hour retrieval operation, Maldivian government spokesperson Mohamed Hossain Shareef confirmed to the BBC.

The two recovered remains are now being transported to the Maldivian capital Male for formal identification. The tragedy unfolded last Thursday near Vaavu Atoll, when a group of divers entered the unapproved cave system, which reaches depths of up to 60 meters (197 feet). The first victim, Italian diving instructor and boat operations manager Gianluca Benedetti, was recovered shortly after the accident, according to local reports.

The disaster claimed a fifth life on Saturday, when a Maldivian rescue diver died during an initial search effort for the missing divers. On Monday, Finnish specialist divers located four of the missing divers in the cave chamber furthest from the entrance, clearing the way for Tuesday’s retrieval of two of the bodies. Recovery operations for the two still-trapped victims are scheduled to resume Wednesday, with local officials expressing cautious optimism that both will be recovered by the end of the day.

Investigators hope that full retrieval of all victims will help shed light on the exact sequence of events that led to the accident. The recovery operation has been classified as highly complex from the start, due to the cave’s extreme depth, tight interior corridors, and extremely poor visibility. The cave’s entrance already sits 47 meters below the surface, with its interconnected chambers ranging to even greater depths. Complicating matters further, weather conditions on the day of the accident were rough, with local authorities having already issued a yellow warning advising against activity for passenger boats and fishing vessels.

New details have also emerged about the dive team’s background: four of the Italian divers were affiliated with the University of Genoa, but institutional representatives told the BBC the university never authorized any deep-sea diving activity as part of the team’s research mission in the region. “Any requests submitted to the Maldivian authorities were evidently made outside the scope of the mission authorised by the University,” a university spokesperson said. Maldivian government officials confirmed the team held a permit to dive to a maximum depth of 50 meters, but never disclosed their plan to explore Shark Cave in their permit application.

A shocking act of gun violence has rocked the small southern Spanish town of El Ejido, located near the city of Almería, leaving two people dead and four others seriously wounded. Spain’s national law enforcement agency, the Guardia Civil, has confirmed that a 25-year-old man has been taken into custody on suspicion of carrying out the fatal attack that targeted his own parents and several other victims.

Local emergency dispatch received the first report of the shooting at 23:00 local time on Monday evening, which equates to 22:00 British Summer Time. Emergency responders quickly arrived at the scene, and all four injured victims were immediately transported to area hospitals for urgent medical care. Among those hurt are two young children, a 60-year-old man, and an additional adult, according to unofficial local media accounts. One of the injured children is the 25-year-old suspect’s own seven-month-old son, while the other injured child is an 18-month-old toddler, the reports add.

As of Tuesday, Spanish authorities have not released the formal identities of the suspect or the two slain victims, citing ongoing investigative procedures. Following the shooting, the suspect fled the scene and was briefly at large before turning himself in voluntarily at a local police precinct, according to Spanish news agency Europa Press.

Guardia Civil officials have confirmed that they have launched a full investigation into the attack, with investigators currently working to piece together a clear motive for the violence. What makes this attack particularly notable for Spain is that mass shootings remain an extremely rare occurrence in the country. Data from Project Insight, an organization that tracks gun violence across the European continent, shows that only four mass shootings were recorded in Spain between 2000 and 2023, making this incident an anomaly for the nation’s typically low rates of mass gun crime.