Middle East: Israel says will deport aid flotilla activists

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Spain against Israel's interception of the Gaza aid flotilla, Spanish media reported on Thursday.

In Barcelona, many protesters converged on the city's central Plaza de les Drassanes, waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans in support of the Palestinian cause.

About 15,000 people took part in the protests in Barcelona, according to the city's municipal police force.

Around 10,000 people took part in a similar protest in the Spanish capital, Madrid, officials said.

Protests were also held in other Spanish cities, including Bilbao, Seville and Valencia.

The Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, has said Cairo is working with Turkey and Qatar to convince Hamas to agree to US President Donald Trump's latest plan to end the war in Gaza, and warned the conflict could escalate if the militant group refuses to accept the deal.

"If Hamas refuse, it would be very difficult and we will have more escalation," said Abdelatty, speaking at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris on Thursday. "That's why we are exerting intensive efforts in order to make this plan applicable and to get the approval of Hamas."

Abdelatty said he was broadly supportive of Trump's proposal, which earlier this week called for an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, Hamas' disarmament and a transitional government led by an international body.

"We are supportive of the Trump plan and the vision to end war and need to move forward," he said, but cautioned: "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."

Abdelatty said it was clear that Hamas had to disarm and expressed concern that a refusal to do so would lead Israel to continue its offensive.

"Let's not give any excuse for one party to use Hamas as a pretext for this mad daily killing of civilians," he said, describing Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip as "far beyond the seventh of October."

This was a reference to the Hamas-led 2023 attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 66,200 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities.

"It is beyond revenge; this is ethnic cleansing and genocide in motion," said Abdelatty. "Enough is enough."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was prepared to back US President Donald Trump's latest plan to end the war in Gaza — as long as it leads to the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

"The situation in Gaza is horrible," Putin said at a conference in the Black Sea city of Sochi, adding that the "issue can be resolved only by the creation of a Palestinian state."

Referring to Trump's proposal of an international body headed up by Tony Blair, Putin said of the former British prime minister: "He is an experienced politician and could play a positive role."

However, the Russian leader also said it's important that the views of Palestinians, including the militant group Hamas, be considered.

"We have contact with Hamas," Putin claimed. "It's important that Hamas supports it, too." 

More than 50 people were killed by "continuous Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip since dawn" on Thursday, according to the territory's Hamas-run civil defense agency, which does not differentiate between combatant and civilian casualties, but whose statistics are regarded as reliable by the UN and other international organizations. 

The fatalities reportedly included at least one child and one employee of the international NGO Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF), 26-year-old Omar al-Hayek.

"We received word that some of our staff had been injured and taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital [in Deir el-Balah]," Karin Huster, head of the MSF team in Gaza, told the AFP news agency.

"When we arrived, we discovered that one of our colleagues had been killed, and four others wounded. The consequences will be tragic for their families and for our team. Enough killings, whether targeted or not, this is unacceptable."

Asked for comment by the AFP news agency, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they were looking into the matter.

More than 100 Middle East experts from academia, politics and diplomacy have called on Germany to reconsider its relationship with Israel given the latter's ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

In a position paper titled "Beyond Staatsraison, How to Align Historic Responsibility, Strategic Interests, and International Law," experts, including former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, said Germany's historic responsibility for the Holocaust should not result in unconditional support for the Israeli government.

"The responsibility which has grown from the Holocaust is a responsibility first and foremost towards Jews — not towards a government," said German political scientist Muriel Asseburg, who is also among the paper's signatories.

She added that the notion of "Never again" ought to be understood as a "universal principle" by which "Germany, as a result of its history, has a particular responsibility to stand up for human rights and international law."

The idea of the existence and protection of the state of Israel being Germany's "Staatsraison," or "reason of state," in atonement for the crimes committed by the Nazis was first articulated by former Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to Israel in 2008.

However, the position paper published in Berlin on Thursday states: "Israel's depredation of the Gaza Strip over the past two years has made the doctrine's incompatibility with Germany's Constitution (Basic Law) and wider historic responsibility ever-more apparent. It's time for a reset."

Israel's interception of civilian aid vessels bound for Gaza in international waters "widens its unlawful blockade of the strip," a United NationsHuman Rights Office spokesperson said on Thursday.

"As the occupying power, Israel must ensure food and medical supplies for the population to the fullest extent of the means available," wrote spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan in an email to the Reuters news agency.

Reuters cited him as saying Israel should "agree to and facilitate impartial humanitarian relief schemes, delivered rapidly and without hindrance."

Al-Kheetan also called on Israel to respect the rights of flotilla members in custody, including the right to challenge the legality of their detention.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot has called the interception of pro-Palestinian activists on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla by Israeli naval forces "unacceptable." 

"The manner in which [the vessels] were boarded and the location in international waters are unacceptable, which is why I summoned the [Israeli] ambassador," Prevot told lawmakers in Brussels on Thursday.

Israel's Foreign Ministry has said that none of the boats that were part of the flotilla attempting to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza breached its blockade of the city.

It added that "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."

Germany has urged Israel to guarantee the safety of those that were part of a flotilla of boats carrying aid towards Gaza, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. 

Vessels in the Global Sumud Flotilla were intercepted by Israel but it is believed those on board have reached land.

"We were in contact with the Israeli government and called on them to comply with their obligations under international law and to act with proportionality," the spokesperson said. "We also called for the protection of all those on board to be guaranteed, to our knowledge, this has been done."

They added the German embassy in Israel is also trying to establish contact with any German nationals involved.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on Israel to release any of his country's nationals who were detained on the humanitarian vessels that were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla en route to Gaza.

Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, Zukiswa Wanner and Reaaz Moolla were all said to be on board, while at least three others were also expected to have traveled.

"The interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla is another grave offense by Israel of global solidarity and sentiment that is aimed at relieving suffering in Gaza and advancing peace in the region," Ramaphosa said.

"On behalf of our government and nation, I call on Israel to immediately release the South Africans abducted in international waters, and to release other nationals who have tried to reach Gaza with humanitarian aid," he added.

Ramaphosa went on to call on Israel to allow the humanitarian aid to reach its destination as the flotilla "represents solidarity with Gaza, not confrontation with Israel."

He added: "South Africa supports the call by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for Israel to urgently lift the blockade on Gaza and allow the entry of life-saving material through all means possible."

What is the symbolic and political impact of the flotillas en route to Gaza?

DW takes a look at the various missions that have tried to reach the shores of Gaza since 2010.

Brazil has condemned Israel after its navy intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying aid and activists to Gaza, including several Brazilian nationals and a lawmaker.

Brazil's Foreign Ministry said it "deplores the Israeli government’s military action, which violates rights and endangers the physical well-being of peaceful protesters." The statement added that Israel is now responsible for the safety of those detained, who had been in international waters.

Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said Brazil had raised concerns directly with Israel over the 15 Brazilians on board, including a member of the Brazilian parliament, Luizianne Lins. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has repeatedly denounced what he calls an Israeli "genocide" of Palestinians since the war began after Hamas's October 2023 terror attack.

Last month, an independent United Nations inquiry announced it found that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. 

Israel's foreign ministry has said pro-Palestinian activists aboard vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla will be deported to Europe after being intercepted by Israeli naval forces.

"Hamas-Sumud passengers on their yachts are making their way safely and peacefully to Israel, where their deportation procedures to Europe will begin. The passengers are safe and in good health," the ministry said Thursday on the social media platform X.

Israeli naval forces stopped several vessels attempting to sail toward Gaza.

Israel intercepted a total of 13 boats in the Global Sumud Flotilla, with another 30 boats still sailing towards Gaza, flotilla organizers wrote on Telegram in their latest update.

The vessels were sailing in international waters north of Egypt.

Immediately after the interception, the ministry posted that "Greta and her friends are safe and healthy," referring to Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

In previous posts, they said that livestreams and communications were cut on the intercepted boats and that the "status of participants and crew remains unconfirmed."

Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Israel of "an act of terrorism" after the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was bound for Gaza, was intercepted.

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro says he will expel all remaining Israeli diplomats in the country over Israel's interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

He said Israeli forces have detained two Colombian citizens who were aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Welcome to DW's coverage of Gaza, Israel and the broader Middle East.

You join us after Israel says it has intercepted boats in an aid flotilla bound for Gaza.

The foreign ministry has said pro-Palestinian activists taken from the vessels will be deported to Europe. Israeli officials said the passengers are safe and in good health.

The vessels were sailing in international waters north of Egypt.

The boats’ progress across the Mediterranean Sea has drawn international attention.

Follow along as DW brings you the latest reports, explainers and analysis on developments across the Middle East.