Handling of Gaza flotilla incident was a 'diplomatic failure'

The Madleen Gaza Freedom Flotilla was "a completely unnecessary event that should have ended as a diplomatic event," former Navy Commander Major General (res.) Eliezer "Chiny" Marom said on Monday during an interview, reports The Jerusalem Post.

"It's not a military event; it's entirely a diplomatic event. Ultimately, we failed in this regard, and the ship set out from the shores of Sicily and arrived here. Therefore, the last barrier before breaking the maritime security blockade was carried out by the Navy," Marom said.

"The whole event is entirely civilian; it's not a military event," he continued. "We have dealt with many such events - some of which you may not even know about, as they never made headlines over the years - and we failed with this one. After the Mavi Marmara incident in 2011, a flotilla of 20 ships was organized; we acted diplomatically and legally in various ways, and ultimately, not a single one reached the shores of Israel."

"We imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip. The blockade was imposed in December 2009, if I'm not mistaken. It's a blockade recognized by the whole world, and it means something very simple - a country has a right to defend itself; it imposes a blockade, and it must be enforced equally on everyone," Marom said.

Breaking Gaza blockade would mean Iranian ships in Gaza within months. "If you allow one ship in, then everyone can enter. Meaning, if someone says, "Let's allow this ship to enter," then there's no longer a blockade. To stop that ship, you need the blockade itself. If you cancel that blockade, within three months Iranian ships will be in Gaza - and you don't want that to happen," he added.

Regarding the Madleen incident, "I don't think the world is too excited about this," Maron said. "There have already been flotillas since the Marmara incident, and we handled them just fine. The Navy knows how to learn lessons and take things seriously. I want to commend the fighters who did an outstanding job."

France and Britain not likely to recognize Palestinian state

According to the sources, France and Britain will abandon plans to recognize a Palestinian state at an upcoming conference in New York to be held between June 17 and 20. France had been lobbying the UK and other European allies to recognize a Palestinian state at the conference.

President Emmanuel Macron had described the move as “a moral duty and political requirement”, suggesting it could come in return for Saudi Arabia recognizing Israel at the conference.

The Guardian has reported that French officials briefed their Israeli counterparts this week that the conference would not be the moment for recognition. Instead, it will now focus on outlining steps towards recognition, contingent on a series of measures and concessions from the Palestinians.

These will include a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli captives, reform of the Palestinian Authority, economic reconstruction and the end of Hamas rule in Gaza.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Friday that recognizing a Palestinian state at the conference would have been a "symbolic" decision and said they had a "particular responsibility" as a permanent member of the UN Security Council not to do so without the support of allies.

Kenneth Roth, former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, expressed concerns that the recognition of a Palestinian state could end up being indefinitely delayed by the announced steps.

"Those steps should not be an endless (nonexistent) 'peace process' but pressure on Israel to stop obstructing a state," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Although 147 countries recognize the state of Palestine, much of Europe has been reluctant and long stated that such a move could only come with Israel's approval and reciprocal moves from Arab states.

Ireland, Spain and Norway recognized a Palestinian state last year, and there has been an increasing consensus that recognition should come unilaterally as a means of pressuring Israel to change tack.

Last week, Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told Middle East Eye (MEE) that France's push to recognize Palestine was "serious and has the backing of most of the European Union and Saudi Arabia”.

However, both Britain and France have faced pressure from the United States over the plans, while Israel has said it would expand its settlements in the occupied West Bank in response.

Israeli war minister Israel Katz said plans to build a further 22 settlements in the occupied territory were "a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state".

In July last year, the Israeli parliament voted overwhelmingly to oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, with only Palestinian lawmakers and a single left-wing Jewish MP voting in support.

Pinkas told MEE that while there was no meaningful domestic support in Israel or the parliament for Palestinian statehood, the international community’s pitch to Israel over ending the war should be that “we are your friends, we want you to succeed, this cannot go on... Netanyahu is driving you to unmitigated and irreparable disaster. Wake up, we are here to help".

 

Israeli troops have boarded aid ship Madleen

Activists say Israeli troops have boarded a yacht trying to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. "Connection has been lost" on the Madleen, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) campaign group said on the Telegram app, reports Saudi Gazette.

The group posted a photo showing people in life jackets sitting with their hands up. Climate activist Greta Thunberg is among those aboard the vessel, which is believed to be off the Egyptian coast.

Israel's foreign ministry said earlier that the country's navy had told the yacht to change course "due to its approach toward a restricted area". Israel says a blockade is necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas militants in Gaza.

The FFC said the vessel, which left Sicily on Friday, was carrying humanitarian aid and had been "prepared for the possibility of an Israeli attack".

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had warned that the yacht should turn back and that Israel would act against any attempt to breach the blockade.

He wrote in a post on X on Sunday, "I have instructed the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] to act to prevent the 'Madeleine' [sic] hate flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza - and to take whatever measures are necessary to that end."

Katz says the purpose of Israel's blockade, which has been in place since 2007, is to "prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas" and is essential to Israel's security as it seeks to destroy Hamas.

The FFC has argued that the sea blockade is illegal, characterizing Katz's statement as an example of Israel threatening the unlawful use of force against civilians and "attempting to justify that violence with smears".

"We will not be intimidated. The world is watching," FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said.

"The Madleen is a civilian vessel, unarmed and sailing in international waters, carrying humanitarian aid and human rights defenders from across the globe... Israel has no right to obstruct our effort to reach Gaza."

The Madleen was carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, the group said.

Citizens of Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Turkey are on board.

In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 people when they boarded the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara that was leading an aid flotilla towards Gaza.

Israel recently began to allow limited aid into Gaza after a three-month land blockade, prioritizing distribution through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by Israel and the US but widely condemned by humanitarian groups.

The UN's human rights chief, Volker Türk, said last week Palestinians were being presented with the "grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available".

It is almost 20 months since Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza. At least 54,880 people have been killed in Gaza since, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

 

World highest railway bridge opens in Kashmir

The world’s highest railway bridge, an ambitious piece of engineering across a mountain valley in Kashmir, was opened Friday by Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi, just weeks after a deadly tourist massacre in the Himalayan region sparked a brief conflict with neighboring Pakistan.

Modi’s visit to India-administered Kashmir was his first since a brief but deadly conflict between India and Pakistan in April. The nuclear-armed neighbors traded missiles, drones, and artillery shelling for four days after New Delhi blamed the massacre on its neighbor, which Pakistan denies.

Decades in the making, the arched Chenab Bridge sits 359 meters (about 1,180 feet) above the river of the same name – that’s 29 meters (over 95 feet) higher than the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Costing more than US$160 million with a length of 1,315 meters (4,314 feet), the bridge is part of the first railway link between Kashmir and the rest of India.

Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government has moved to integrate the Muslim-majority region with the rest of the country, including revoking a constitutional provision that allowed it to set its own laws in 2019.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed by India, Pakistan and China. All three administer a part of the region, one of the most militarized zones in the world.

In addition to the Chenab Bridge, Modi also inaugurated the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link project, which connects key cities in India-administered Kashmir to the rest of India.

For Modi, who swept to power more than a decade ago on a ticket of nationalism and a promise of future greatness, investments in infrastructure like the Chenab Bridge and the broader rail link project can be seen as a powerful tool for social integration and political influence. Since he was first elected in 2014, the prime minister has rapidly expanded the region’s road and rail connectivity, building networks that connect disparate towns with major cities.

In 2019, New Delhi revoked a constitutional provision giving India-administered Kashmir the autonomy to set its own laws. The southern and eastern portions of the region known previously as the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir became two separate union territories, bringing them under direct control of New Delhi – a move Modi claimed would promote stability, reduce corruption and boost the economy.

The Chenab Bridge is being hailed as a major win for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party government.

His administration has poured billions into upgrading India’s old and outdated transport network, part of its vision to transform the country into a developed nation by 2047.

Among these ambitious projects is the construction of several tunnels and highways in the mountainous Himalayan region which has been criticized by some environmentalists who say the heavy construction could damage fragile topography already feeling the effects from the climate crisis.

Modi’s Char Dham Highway project, a multimillion-dollar infrastructure plan to improve connectivity in the state of Uttarakhand, came under fire in November 2023 when an under-construction mountain tunnel collapsed, trapping dozens of workers inside for several days with little water and oxygen.

In August that year, more than a dozen workers were killed after a bridge under construction collapsed in the northeastern state of Mizoram. In June, a four-lane concrete bridge that was being built across the River Ganges in the eastern state of Bihar collapsed for the second time in just over a year, raising questions about the quality of its construction.

Courtesy: Saudi Gazette

Madleen Gaza Flotilla Sailing for Justice

The Madleen Gaza Flotilla, which sailed from Sicily on June 01, 2025, is the latest and most determined international campaign to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza and provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance in the context of an escalating crisis. 

The Madleen Flotilla is a symbol of peaceful resistance and international solidarity with Gaza's besieged population, challenging the legality and morality of Israel's blockade while amplifying the plight of Gaza's civilians and calling for justice. Whether the Madleen is intercepted or succeeds in delivering aid, its mission has already succeeded in breaking the silence surrounding Gaza's suffering and drawing attention to the urgent need for peace, dignity, and humanitarian access.

Named in honor of Madleen Kulab, Gaza’s first and only fisherwoman, the boat is loaded with urgently needed supplies, including baby formula, flour, rice, glucose, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination filters, medical tools, crutches, and prosthetics for children.

Twelve activists, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Irish actor Liam Cunningham, are on board the mission, which is being organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), an international civil society movement dedicated to lifting the blockade.

Historical context and continuity

The Madleen’s journey is part of a decades-long history of flotillas seeking to break Gaza’s blockade, notably bringing to mind the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla. That mission came to a violent conclusion when Israeli commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara in international waters, killing nine activists. 

The Madleen steams in the wake of that incident, and more recent attacks like the drone strike in May 2025 that left another FFC ship, the Conscience, heavily damaged near Malta.

These recurrent attempts and interceptions demonstrate the ongoing dangers to relief efforts opposing the blockade and the persistence of nonviolent, civilian-led resistance to the siege of Gaza.

Humanitarian crisis and symbolism

Gaza is experiencing a serious humanitarian crisis. More than 90 percent of its 2.3 million people are struggling to get enough food, with the UN warning that the whole population might face famine because an Israeli blockade has stopped most aid since March 2025. 
Hospitals are overwhelmed, clean water is hard to find, and basic supplies are almost gone. The Madleen, a ship carrying vital supplies, aims to help with these shortages. It represents the strength and determination of Palestinians in the face of long-standing challenges.

Challenging Israel’s blockade policies

The Madleen flotilla opposes Israel's blockade in a number of ways. By sailing straight to the coast of Gaza, it physically tries to break through the naval blockade and directly challenges Israel's maritime restrictions. 

By bringing the blockade's terrible humanitarian effects to the attention of the world, the mission puts pressure on Israel and the international community to reevaluate the legitimacy of the policy. The flotilla mobilizes public opinion and global solidarity against the blockade by enlisting well-known activists and live-streaming its journey.

The Madleen challenges the legal and moral basis for the blockade, which violates international law by punishing the civilian population as a whole. It argues that its mission is non-violent civil resistance. The flotilla highlights the danger of military confrontation, having now pressured Israel to consider the consequences of intercepting a peaceful humanitarian ship in the face of heightened world attention.

Symbolizing peaceful resistance 

In addition to providing aid, Madleen represents nonviolent resistance to the Gaza siege, Palestinian tenacity, and the refusal to accept isolation and starvation as normal circumstances. The flotilla's nonviolent civil disobedience asserts a moral right to humanitarian access and challenges military restrictions without using force.

By seeking to establish a maritime humanitarian corridor, it offers hope for breaking the siege and restoring lifelines to Gaza. The mission highlights international solidarity, bringing international activists and public attention to Gaza's predicament, and it continues a legacy of maritime resistance that started more than ten years ago.

Described as a “lighthouse in a very dark time,” the flotilla calls on the global conscience to act against injustice and uphold human dignity.

Activism and global solidarity

The involvement of well-known activists like Greta Thunberg has contributed to the Madleen mission's considerable international attention. By saving four Libyan migrants who had jumped into the sea to escape being apprehended by Libyan authorities while traveling to Gaza, the flotilla also showed its humanitarian solidarity. 

This action demonstrates the flotilla's wider commitment to protecting vulnerable populations and the interconnectedness of the humanitarian crises in the Mediterranean. The flotilla has become a focal point for advocacy against the blockade. It has awakened public opinion against injustice.

 

Saudi Arabia urges end to Israeli atrocities

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman reaffirmed the role of the international community in ending the disastrous repercussions of the Israeli aggression on Gaza. He made the remarks while addressing the annual reception for heads of state, leaders of countries and distinguished dignitaries performing Hajj this year at the Royal Court of Mina Palace on Saturday.

The Crown Prince delivered the speech on behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. "This blessed Eid Al-Adha comes while our brothers in Palestine continue to suffer as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression. We emphasize the role of the international community in ending the disastrous repercussions of this aggression, as well as in protecting innocent civilians, and working toward a new reality where Palestine can enjoy peace in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions," he said.

At the outset of the speech, the Crown Prince said, "It is our pleasure, from the vicinity of the Sacred House of God, to congratulate you and all Muslims around the world on the blessed Eid Al-Adha. We ask God Almighty to accept the pilgrims' Hajj and good deeds," he said.

The Crown Prince highlighted Saudi Arabia's lofty position in serving Islam and Muslims, especially the Hajj pilgrims. "God Almighty has honored this country with the service of the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors, including Hajj and Umrah pilgrims and visitors. Saudi Arabia has placed this at the forefront of its priorities, devoting all its capabilities to serving the guests of God and facilitating performance of their rituals in ease and comfort," he said while reaffirming that Saudi Arabia, with God's help and guidance, will continue this endeavor, recognizing the great responsibility and honor of service.

"We ask God Almighty to perpetuate security and stability in our country, and in all Muslim countries and across the world, and to accept the Hajj of the pilgrims to the Sacred House of God, and enable them return safely to their families," the Crown Prince added.

The reception was attended by several eminent Islamic figures, guests of the King, guests of government agencies, heads of delegations, and pilgrim affairs offices. The dignitaries included President of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, President of Maldives Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, Vice President of Benin Mariam Chabi Talata Zimi Berima; and former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

Minister of Hajj and Umrah and Chairman of the Hajj Guests Service Program Committee Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Secretary General of the Muslim World League for Jerusalem and Palestine and Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Hussein, and Syrian Minister of Endowments Sheikh Mohammed Abu al-Khair Shukri also spoke on the occasion.

In his speech Al-Rabiah highlighted the most notable achievements of this year's Hajj season, including the implementation of 46 new energy projects with a total cost of over SR3 billion, as well as several projects in the transport and health sectors. This is in addition to several infrastructure projects with more than 300,000 square meters of shaded areas and updating of the Nusuk app to provide more than 130 digital services and streamlining of the Nusuk Masar digital platform.

Elon Musk floats a new political party

Elon Musk floated a new political party on Friday after falling out with President Trump over the big, beautiful bill. He launched a Thursday poll on the social platform X, which he owns, asking about whether or not the country needed a new faction for political nominees.

“The people have spoken. A new political party is needed in America to represent the 80% in the middle! And exactly 80% of people agree. This is fate,” Musk wrote, citing numbers from his survey. 

He followed up with a potential name for the group, “The America Party.”

In recent days, Musk has railed against Trump for suggesting the United States increase its national debt by US$4 trillion as proposed in the bill. 

The tech giant said it “undermines” all the work he did at the Department of Government Efficiency, geared towards reducing government spending. 

However, Trump said the Tesla CEO was mad over slashes to electric vehicle incentives instead of other clauses in the legislation. 

 “Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here. … He had no problem with it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the EV mandate, because that’s billions and billions of dollars,” he added.

Musk, who served as a White House adviser for over 100 days in the Trump administration, backed a call for Trump to be impeached and replaced by his own vice president. The president has publicly questioned Musk’s motives for slamming his leadership right after leaving his role in the administration. 

“I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It’s a Record Cut in Expenses, US$1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn’t pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that. I didn’t create this mess, I’m just here to fix it. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” 

Musk also credited himself for Republicans’ successful trifecta in November capturing the White House, in addition to majorities in the House and Senate.

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk said in a post on his social platform X.

“Such ingratitude,” he added.

Florida Republican Rep. Jimmy Patronis cast doubt on Musk’s claim of creating “The America Party” in Friday comments, suggesting the two will be “hanging around again” shortly.

“Elon Musk is not gonna create a new political party,” Patronis told NewsNation’s Blake Burman during an appearance on “The Hill.”

“Trump knows that sometimes you’re going to have falling out with those that you trust, you like, that you’re friends with. It happens with us in DC all the time. So again. Mark my words. About a month from now, these guys will be hanging around again.