๐️Lonny's War Update- October 727, 2023 - October 2, 2025 ๐️
๐️Day 727 that 48 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivity๐️
- Yes, today is Yom Kippur and I'm sure that only a few people will read this today. Today is Yom Kippur but it is Yom Kippur everyday for the hostages. Everyday is their day to be written in the book of life or not, everyday is basically a fasting day for them as they are literally starving in their captivity. Everyday is a day that they stare out and contemplate their lives and hope that they will survive till tomorrow and then question without answers, will there be a day when they will be saved and come back to the arms of their families who have been fighting for them every single day for 727 days and counting?
In just few days, it will be 2 years since the war began, since that bloody Shabbat and massacre when 251 hostages were taken from their homes, a music festival, from their bases and tanks and 727 days later, 48 are still in captivity.
For the majority of Israelis today, the hostages will be the focus of their prayers and their thoughts and most will still find it incomprehensible that there are still 48 hostages in captivity as we approach a number that no one in Israel could have ever imagined - 2 years of captivity, 2 years of war. So much death, torture- physical and mental, destruction, lives that will never be the same, a country that will never be the same. And I wonder, what is in the minds of Netanyahu and the rest of his worthless cabinet who have allowed the hostages to rot in Gaza for 2 years? Do they have regrets that they have put their own interests in front of the interests of the people and the state? Is there a thread of sorrow, of sympathy, of empathy? Are their souls and hearts there anymore?
Just as Smotrich and Ben Gvir have threatened to bring down the government if a deal is made, are there any ministers or coalition members who say to themselves this day, why didn't I tell Netanyahu that if he doesn't make a deal, I will bring down the government?
How, in such a short history, have we reached the point that our leaders are totally bereft of ethics and a moral code? How have they trampled the moral standards that we have all been raised on: "ืื ืืฉืจืื ืขֲืจֵืִืื ืื ืืื" All of Israel is responsible for each other, and the basic ethic that we don't leave anyone behind.
The most important Mitzva (good deed) that both the Ramban (Nachmanides) and the Rambam (Maimonides) believed in what the redemption of prisoners and that no cost was too high. This is one of the most basic Jewish standards of life and morality, yet it is the coalition members who claim to be religious who not only ignore that mitzvah, they erase it from all memory.
They do not represent the people of Israel who hold dear to higher beliefs, ethics and morals. These so called leaders are no more than petty politicians who don't deserve to sit in their seats for one more day. They are not worthy of the people of Israel and we are deserving of so much more. ‘Everyone in the street is now against Hamas’: Gazan elites push Trump to end the war
Politically independent Gaza City mayor, academics and businessmen warn of total economic and infrastructural collapse in first joint letter urging US president to pressure Israel
Yahya al-Sarraj, mayor of Gaza City and one of the signatories of the letter to Trump. (Screenshot: Facebook)Before the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Gaza Chamber of Commerce head Ayed Abu Ramadan was one of the key figures in the enclave’s economy, representing Gaza’s traders both inside the Strip and abroad.
Over the past two years, Abu Ramadan said, his situation has been “less difficult” than that of most Gaza residents — for instance, he currently lives in an apartment rather than in a tent, a rare luxury in a territory in which the United Nations estimates 90 percent of residential buildings to have been damaged or destroyed by Israel.
But like many others in Gaza, Abu Ramadan longs for one thing: an end to the war. In recent days, Abu Ramadan and 16 other prominent local figures in Gaza sent, through intermediaries, a letter to US President Donald Trump calling on him to pressure Israel and halt the fighting that began with Hamas’s bloody invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. The group believes Trump received the letter by Friday.
“You have the power to succeed where others failed, to stop the bloodshed, protect innocent lives and set the stage for a just and lasting peace,” the signatories wrote in the letter to Trump, which was obtained by The Times of Israel.
“We know that the only one who can stop this war is Trump. He is one of Israel’s biggest supporters, and clearly, his influence on Israel is significant. He is the only one who can move the needle on this issue,” Abu Ramadan told The Times of Israel in a phone call from southern Gaza.
In a series of once almost unthinkable conversations between Gaza-based Palestinians and an Israeli news outlet, The Times of Israel spoke with four of the signatories this week. In unison, they called for an end to the war and distanced themselves from the Hamas terror organization that rules the Strip, saying the group no longer has the support of the public.
The letter is the first of its kind during the war in which members of Gaza’s elite are calling for a ceasefire and peace with Israel. According to the signatories, the letter reached Trump just as the White House was finalizing his plan to end the war.
On Monday, Trump laid out his peace plan during a White House press conference with visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump declared that Washington is “beyond very close” to reaching a deal after Netanyahu accepted the proposal. A group of Arab and Muslim countries is committed to disarming Hamas.
Egyptian and Qatari mediators presented Hamas negotiators with the US proposal late Monday night, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel. On Tuesday, Trump said he’ll give the terror group “three or four days” to agree to the plan to free the Israeli hostages, end the war and begin the rehabilitation of Gaza.
Who is behind the letter?
The most prominent signatory is Gaza City’s mayor, Yahya al-Sarraj. Before the war, about 1 million people lived in Gaza City, making it not only the largest metropolis in the Strip but also the largest Palestinian city overall.
As with any other governing role in Gaza, the position of mayor traditionally required subordination to Hamas’s governing structures. But in a WhatsApp conversation with The Times of Israel, al-Sarraj categorically denied that he or the municipality had any affiliation with Hamas.
“The municipality is a local authority independent administratively and financially, and is not subordinate to any political entity or faction. Its role is only to serve citizens and provide services in water, sewage, sanitation, and urban planning,” he said. Al-Sarraj also described himself as politically independent, with an academic and professional background unrelated to any political movement.
“The Palestinians in Gaza love peace and want an immediate halt to the killing and destruction,” he stressed, adding that “the letter was sent now in order to push and encourage the US president to move forward with steps to end the war and not to miss the opportunity — for the benefit of all sides.”
Senior local figures from Gaza’s civil society, including businesspeople, academics, and doctors, have rarely spoken out over the past two years.
Palestinians inspect destruction after an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, west of Gaza City, September 27, 2025. (Ali Hassan/Flash90)Abu Ramadan acknowledged that many among Gaza’s elite fled the Strip during the war. Between November 2023 and May 2024, the Rafah crossing into Egypt was open, allowing departures on ostensible medical grounds for those who could pay several thousand dollars to Egyptian companies operating the crossing, even without meeting medical criteria for treatment abroad.
“Of course, the departure of the elite — traders, businesspeople, doctors, and ordinary families, about 120,000 people in all — had a negative effect, even on morale, and on health and the economy,” Abu Ramadan said.
But, he added, “That doesn’t amount to 1% of the impact of the genocide. We can withstand any conditions, but the massacre now underway is extremely difficult.” (Israel categorically denies perpetrating a genocide in Gaza, where Hamas notoriously embeds itself in the civilian population to use its people as human shields.)
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 65,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed over 22,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught, in which thousands of Hamas-led terrorists slaughtered some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducted 251 to the Gaza Strip.
Abu Ramadan, who remains in Gaza along with the overwhelming majority of the letter’s signatories, made clear: “Despite everything, we will stay and not leave the Strip. We will not accept expulsion. We are rooted in the place where we are.”
Signatories: This is a one-sided war
Abu Ramadan explained that the signatories chose to write to Trump now because they felt the world misunderstood what was really happening in Gaza.
“People think it’s army versus army, fighting. What’s happening is an organized, total destruction of every aspect of life in the Gaza Strip. Just as they destroyed Rafah and Khan Younis, now they are destroying Gaza City.”
“This is a one-sided war against civilians, and it uses advanced, inhuman technology. There is a difference between a soldier and a robot,” he said, referring to remote-controlled vehicles packed with explosives that the IDF has deployed in Gaza to blow up buildings.
Ayed Abu Ramadan, head of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce and one of the signatories of the letter to Trump. (Screenshot: X)“There is no battle. The resistance [Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza] is not present,” Saif al-Din Odeh, a Gaza economist who previously worked at the Palestinian Authority’s Monetary Authority, told The Times of Israel by phone.
Odeh left his home in Gaza City just a week ago as Israeli forces advanced to capture the city.
“The army struck the roof of the house we lived in early in the morning; the top floor was hit, and we fled. If there was real resistance, would the city have been cleared out within two weeks? Would the army have had the chance to send in robots and bomb houses?” he said.
Odeh voiced deep concern about the Israeli offensive continuing in Gaza City, even briefly.
“If the bombardment continues this way, within a month not a stone will be left standing. And afterwards, the city will no longer be fit to live in. Is that the goal? Under the pretense of Hamas? There is no Hamas, no resistance, nothing. Maybe two or three people — that is not what you call a military confrontation.”
Odeh said he raised the matter personally with the Palestinian businessman Bashara Bahbah, one of the mediators in the talks with Hamas.
“I personally asked Dr. Bashara: This cannot go on, even for a few more hours. Every hour, they destroy hundreds of houses that have nothing in them. There must be a freeze — I’m not even saying stop the killing — but a freeze on the destruction that’s happening. Then there can be negotiations. Freeze it for two, three, four days, and let the politicians talk,” he said.
Palestinians look through rubble following an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, September 26, 2025. (Fathi Ibrahim/FLASH90)‘The economy in Gaza has collapsed’
Many of the letter’s signatories are economic experts and have a sharper perspective on the financial collapse in the Strip. Abu Ramadan accused Israel of fostering corruption and chaos through its policies.
“It encourages corruption because it allows a limited number of traders to bring in goods at high prices, and chaos because it protects looters in areas under its control and encourages them to attack shipments of private or humanitarian goods. This is causing insane price hikes,” he claimed, estimating that hyperinflation in Gaza has reached 900%.
“Prices are nine times higher than before the war. More than 70% have no work. Of the 30% who do, it’s in the service sector — mostly health — with very low wages. There is no cash; Israel refuses to allow new banknotes into Gaza,” he said. “There is no Palestinian economy in Gaza. It’s finished. There was complete destruction of the business sector and of agriculture.”
Before the war, Gaza’s farmlands supplied residents with food — some for export, mainly fruits and vegetables. But Odeh said that returning to that after the war will require environmental rehabilitation.
“The land needs purification. Tens of thousands of explosives have seeped into the soil and it is poisoned,” he said.
Al-Sarraj said he remains in the Strip despite the battle for the city.
He described destruction everywhere: “Walking through the city, you see devastation in residential, commercial and cultural buildings, in hospitals, schools, universities, churches, mosques — everything was hit. Infrastructure too was destroyed: more than 75% of the water wells were wiped out, and many more are inaccessible. Sewage treatment plants, water and drainage systems were also hit. In short, the destruction has reached every facility and every neighborhood.”
Smoke rises following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)All against Hamas
Although the letter itself does not mention Hamas, some of the signatories spoke sharply against the movement in private. Marwan Tarazi, a businessman and chairman of the board of Gaza College — the enclave’s oldest private school, founded in 1942 — told The Times of Israel: “Hamas is a terrorist organization, we have no connection to it at all, so why all the killing of the people who are here?”
“Believe me, everyone in the street is now against Hamas,” Tarazi said. “If you ask anyone in Gaza, they’re against Hamas. This is not our tradition to do what happened on October 7. We need to live in peace with Israel, with the Jews.”
“Children, one- and two-year-olds, they’ve been wiped off the map,” Odeh said angrily. “Tens of thousands have been destroyed. Me, what do I care about the factions [armed groups in the Strip]? Let all the factions go to hell.”
The letter’s authors said they are not affiliated with any Palestinian political camp, but Abu Ramadan stressed that, in his view, the PLO and the PA are the ultimate authorities and the likeliest path to peace with Israel.
Displaced Palestinians walk through a tent camp in al-Muwasi, an area that Israel has designated as a safe zone, in Khan Younis southern Gaza Strip, September 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)Though the letter did not lay out a detailed, orderly plan for the day after the war, Abu Ramadan laid out his vision.
“We call for a two-state solution, a comprehensive and just peace,” he said. “The Palestinian Authority certainly has a role in that vision, immediately or after a year or two — everything is open to discussion.”
“We need to breathe a little,” Tarazi said with a bitter laugh. “What happened in Gaza is a lot, it’s too much.”
He stressed that removing Hamas from the Strip is one of his top priorities for the day after the war. “The most important thing now is that the war stops, and secondly that Hamas is out.”
“The society in Gaza generally aspires to live in peace, without a blockade, with open borders and no restrictions on the movement of people and goods,” concluded al-Sarraj. “No one wants the war to continue.” link
- Navy takes control of flotilla vessels: 'Greta and her friends are safe'
The Foreign Ministry released footage of the navy's takeover of one of the ships in the "Sumoud" flotilla, showing one of the soldiers alongside activist Greta Thunberg. "Several vessels from the Hamas-Sumoud flotilla have been safely intercepted and the passengers are being transferred to a port in Israel," the statement read. "Greta and her friends are safe and well. - Qatari PM hopes ‘momentum’ now to end Israel’s Gaza war; Hamas deliberates
‘The main focus is how to protect the people in Gaza,’ stressed the Qatari PM in an interview with Al Jazeera.Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani chairing a preparatory meeting in Doha on September 14, 2025, ahead of an Emergency Arab Islamic Summit [Handout provided by Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AFP] Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani says the Gaza ceasefire plan unveiled by United States President Donald Trump meets the key goals set by mediators – stopping the killing and displacement of Palestinians – and urged all sides to seize the “momentum” to bring Israel’s war to an end.
In an interview with Al Jazeera aired on Wednesday, Sheikh Mohammed said Doha had passed the plan, already backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to Hamas’s negotiating team and discussed its broad terms.
He acknowledged the plan has “practical and implementation challenges,” but said it tackles the most urgent priority: ending the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip while also opening the door to “opportunities”.
“Everyone agreed on stopping the war, preventing displacement and the full withdrawal of the Israeli army. These are the three main, pivotal matters,” he said. “And the direct responsible party for managing Gaza are the Palestinian people themselves.”
“The main focus is how to protect the people in Gaza,” stressed Sheikh Mohammed.
On Monday, Netanyahu apologised to Qatar for the killing of a Qatari citizen during an unprecedented Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha last month, which drew global condemnation.
Sheikh Mohammed received the apology on Monday in a joint call from Trump and Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House.
‘There are challenges’
The 20-point plan has drawn support from a wide range of Arab and Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Turkiye and Indonesia. It stipulates that once agreed, the attacks in Gaza will end immediately and “full aid” will be allowed into the Strip.
Representatives from Turkiye are joining a meeting of the Gaza mediation team in Doha amid the diplomatic movement. “Turkiye now stands as part of the US initiative” and is collaborating closely on it, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told a news conference on Tuesday.
The plan states that all Israeli captives would be freed within 72 hours of its acceptance, followed by Israel’s release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas, for its part, would step down from power and demilitarise, with its members granted amnesty.
An international force would be deployed to temporarily oversee security and train local Palestinian police forces, while a technocratic committee of Palestinians would assume interim responsibility for governance.
Sheikh Mohammed said the details on some of the points, specifically the process of Israel’s withdrawal and makeup of a future Palestinian administration, will need to be clarified and negotiated.
The plan sets no schedule or clear standards for Israel’s withdrawal, and vaguely gives Israel the right to hold onto a “security perimeter” until the territory “is properly secured”.
Sheikh Mohammed said fleshing out these matters “is primarily the work of the Palestinian side with the Israeli side, but also as a broader supporting international community, there must be a clear and legal framework for this matter, which of course will be at the UN Security Council.”
Hamas, which Doha says has promised to “responsibly examine” the proposal, has yet to give an official reply. Trump on Tuesday said the group had three to four days to answer, and warned that if it didn’t sign on, they would “pay in hell”.
“This plan is not an offer, as Trump made quite clear. It’s an ultimatum,” said Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna from Washington, DC.
‘No guarantees’
Some analysts raised concerns that the plan does not provide Palestinians with sufficient security guarantees or a path to autonomous governance.
“If you read the agreement itself, there are no guarantees provided to the Palestinians, not a single guarantee,” said Palestinian lawyer and analyst Diana Buttu. “All guarantees are provided to the Israelis.”
“There is every indication that if, at any point, Israel decides that it wants to go back to the war, it will do so,” said Phyllis Bennis, a programme director at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC.
The renewed ceasefire push comes as Israel presses a devastating offensive into what it claims is one of Hamas’s last strongholds in Gaza City, nearly two years into the war.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s attacks in the enclave have killed 66,097 Palestinians and injured 168,536, while its aid restrictions have contributed to widespread malnutrition, causing 453 hunger-related deaths, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. link
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**
“I’ve never met them,But I miss them. I’ve never met them,but I think of them every second. I’ve never met them,but they are my family. BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*9:00pm yesterday- Ashdod- 5 rockets launched from Gaza-4 intercepted, 1 fell in open space
- Analysis: How happy is Israel’s Netanyahu with Trump’s Gaza plan?
Israeli PM Netanyahu says he’s accepted the proposal, but with far-right opposition, will he follow through with it?Standing next to Donald Trump on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that he had accepted the plan put forward by the United States president to end Israel’s war on Gaza.
But a few hours later – and this time speaking in Hebrew rather than English – Netanyahu couched that agreement, telling his domestic audience that he definitely had not agreed to a Palestinian state and the Israeli military would remain in most of Gaza.
On paper, Trump’s 20-point plan fulfils many of Israel’s stated war aims: the return of Israeli captives, the dismantling of Hamas as a military and political force, and the creation of a temporary international administration in Gaza unlikely to threaten Israel.
But agreeing to any deal has political and personal costs for Netanyahu, who has kept his government together largely because of his insistence that the war continue. Is he finally ready to end a conflict that has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians? Or will he find another way to prolong the war?
Risky manoeuvre
As well as fulfilling most of Israel’s demands, Trump’s Gaza plan also lets Netanyahu present himself as a victorious war leader before next year’s elections as well as any potential investigation into government failings that may have led to the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
“For Netanyahu, Trump’s deal allows him to portray himself as the full package,” Israeli political scientist Ori Goldberg said. “‘Look at me,’ he can say. ‘I fought the war. I destroyed all of Gaza. I went further than anyone ever thought possible. I have proven my devotion to Israel and its security, but now it’s time for cooler heads to prevail.’”
“This isn’t about facts. It’s about narrative,” Goldberg added.
That is important for Netanyahu because any move to end the war is a risky one. Netanyahu, despite being Israel’s longest-serving leader, faces fierce opposition in his own country related to his own domestic policies, the corruption charges he faces and disagreements over his failure to agree a deal to release the captives held in Gaza.
He, therefore, has had to rely on the support of far-right cabinet members, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have made their backing conditional upon maintaining and even expanding the war on Gaza.
Critics have also suggested that Netanyahu may be seeking to prolong the war to avoid a potential prison term in his ongoing corruption trial or to prevent an official inquiry into his government’s failures before Hamas’s October 2023 attacks – inquiries that previously led to the resignations of Israel’s chief of staff and the head of its domestic intelligence service, Shin Bet.
“These risks haven’t diminished,” said Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador and consul general in New York. “You need to remember, Trump’s not like [former US President Joe] Biden. Netanyahu can’t rely on all his friends in the Republican Party to try to circumvent the president. That leverage has all gone. If Trump wants to, he’s in a position to make life very difficult for Netanyahu – and Netanyahu knows that.”
Pinkas explained that Netanyahu was instructed to fly to the US and agree to the plan publicly. “I think Trump guessed that, if this had been agreed behind closed doors, Netanyahu’s more than capable of coming out and presenting an entirely different reality. … By making this agreement in public, he can’t do that,” he said.
Far-right opposition
Demonstrations calling for negotiations to end the war and return the Israeli captives held in Gaza have run almost throughout the conflict, and many polls in recent months suggested a majority of the Israeli public wants to see an end to the war. Within the Knesset, or parliament, opposition MPs, including their leader, Yair Lapid, have repeatedly offered to lend Netanyahu the support needed to push through a ceasefire, making an acceptance of the US terms politically possible and publicly popular.
But Netanyahu has instead repeatedly chosen to throw in his lot with the far right, which, far from wanting an end to the war, wants Israel to fully take over Gaza and settle it with Jewish Israelis while forcing Palestinians out.
Smotrich has rejected the Trump plan, posting on social media that it is “a resounding diplomatic failure, a closing of eyes and turning our backs on all the lessons of October 7, and in my estimation, it will also end in tears”.
Ben-Gvir is also expected to oppose the deal although his anger so far has focused on Netanyahu’s reported apology to Qatar – reportedly made under US pressure – for Israel’s unprovoked attack on Hamas’s negotiating team in Doha in September.
For the far-right settler movement, the plan represents a disappointment but not a surprise. For Ben-Gvir, it is merely a setback in a populist agenda designed to stoke division and make Palestinian lives harder.
“Smotrich and the settlers will be disappointed, but there you go,” Goldberg said. “They all thought this was the final God-given war that would see them triumphant. Now they’re beginning to realise it was just the same old Netanyahu pantomime. Ben-Gvir will probably consider his options. He’ll probably pretend it isn’t happening. He’ll never publicly support it, but equally, he’s not going to rush to leave the cabinet.
“But this isn’t just about the cabinet. The Knesset is bound to support this with those that call themselves ‘liberals’ rallying round to back what they’ll claim is a ‘peace deal’. But what a ‘peace deal’ means in the context of a genocide really isn’t clear.”
Complicating the picture
While Netanyahu may hope to cast himself as Israel’s saviour, analysts argued he is trapped by circumstance and focused on his immediate survival.
“My guess is that he’ll try and kill it softly,” Pinkas said. “He’ll say we’re studying it carefully, that we have some slight security concerns and a few items to sort out. At the same time, he’ll escalate the war on Gaza and scale up his rhetoric on Iran. In a few weeks, the reality will have changed, the plan will no longer apply and, he hopes, Trump’s attention will have already moved on.”
Yossi Mekelberg of Chatham House agreed that Netanyahu’s horizon is defined by “political survival”. “If Ben-Gvir, Smotrich or other right-wing figures desert the coalition, Netanyahu may call elections, claiming victory by pointing to Hamas’s dismantling, the return of hostages and the presence of foreign troops in Gaza,” Mekelberg said. “‘We eliminated Hamas. We managed to get most of the hostages alive. … Look what we have done,’ he could argue.”
Yet Mekelberg warned that “the minute the war is over, Netanyahu might very quickly find himself isolated” with rivals in Likud, the far right, the opposition and ultra-Orthodox allies all sensing weakness. “You never bet against Netanyahu – he knows how to manipulate. Still, he’s more and more in a corner.” link
- Israel intercepts Gaza flotilla, says blockade not breached; Thunberg, others detained
Navy boards dozens of ships in anti-Israel armada after it rejects final call to change course; detainees brought to Israel ahead of deportation; Foreign Ministry: All ‘safe, in good health’Israel’s navy intercepted the large flotilla attempting to break its maritime blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, after the military issued a final warning for the pro-Palestinian fleet to change course.
The Israeli Navy operation, which came as the country marked Yom Kippur, began on Wednesday evening and continued overnight and into Thursday.
Forces of the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit boarded more than 40 of the 47 ships in the Global Sumud Flotilla by noon on Thursday, detaining the hundreds of activists aboard after jamming their signals and spraying them with water cannons.
Shortly before 2 p.m., Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the “provocation” by the Global Sumud Flotilla “is over,” without any major incidents reported.
“None of the Hamas-Sumud provocation yachts has succeeded in its attempt to enter an active combat zone or breach the lawful naval blockade,” the ministry said.
The ministry said that “all the passengers are safe and in good health. They are making their way safely to Israel, from where they will be deported to Europe.” One of the Israeli Navy’s new landing craft, or logistics support vessels, was seen arriving at Ashdod Port with some of the detained activists.
One of the flotilla’s boats, with mechanical issues unrelated to the military’s actions, remained at sea at a distance from Gaza. The ministry said that “if it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented.”
Contrary to claims made by some activists — based on wrong tracking information — none of the flotilla’s vessels managed to reach the Israeli-controlled waters off the coast of Gaza, the military asserted. Tracking data showed one of the flotilla’s boats, Mikeno, suddenly appearing off the coast of Gaza in the morning, though it has remained there for hours with a reported speed of 0 knots and 0° course, indicating the tracker is faulty.
One of the first boats to be boarded was carrying Greta Thunberg, with the Foreign Ministry sharing a video of an Israeli soldier handing her belongings to her after she was detained.
Flotilla activists, including Greta Thunberg are seen being transported to Israel after their vessels were intercepted by the IDF on October 2, 2025 (Foreign Ministry)“Already several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port. Greta and her friends are safe and healthy,” the Foreign Ministry said late Wednesday.
French politician Marie Mesmeur and Franco-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan reported that their boats were also intercepted. Livestream footage showed activists throwing their phones into the sea after soldiers boarded a ship.
The flotilla — which departed from Spain a month ago — is carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid for Gaza and over 500 people, according to the organizers, some of whom Israel has accused of having ties to Hamas.
Israel’s navy intercepted the large flotilla attempting to break its maritime blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, after the military issued a final warning for the pro-Palestinian fleet to change course.
The Israeli Navy operation, which came as the country marked Yom Kippur, began on Wednesday evening and continued overnight and into Thursday.
Forces of the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit boarded more than 40 of the 47 ships in the Global Sumud Flotilla by noon on Thursday, detaining the hundreds of activists aboard after jamming their signals and spraying them with water cannons.
Shortly before 2 p.m., Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the “provocation” by the Global Sumud Flotilla “is over,” without any major incidents reported.
“None of the Hamas-Sumud provocation yachts has succeeded in its attempt to enter an active combat zone or breach the lawful naval blockade,” the ministry said.
The ministry said that “all the passengers are safe and in good health. They are making their way safely to Israel, from where they will be deported to Europe.” One of the Israeli Navy’s new landing craft, or logistics support vessels, was seen arriving at Ashdod Port with some of the detained activists.
Israeli Navy troops board Global Sumud Flotilla boats in the Mediterranean Sea, early October 2, 2025. (Global Sumud Flotilla)One of the flotilla’s boats, with mechanical issues unrelated to the military’s actions, remained at sea at a distance from Gaza. The ministry said that “if it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented.”
Contrary to claims made by some activists — based on wrong tracking information — none of the flotilla’s vessels managed to reach the Israeli-controlled waters off the coast of Gaza, the military asserted. Tracking data showed one of the flotilla’s boats, Mikeno, suddenly appearing off the coast of Gaza in the morning, though it has remained there for hours with a reported speed of 0 knots and 0° course, indicating the tracker is faulty.
One of the first boats to be boarded was carrying Greta Thunberg, with the Foreign Ministry sharing a video of an Israeli soldier handing her belongings to her after she was detained.
Flotilla activists, including Greta Thunberg are seen being transported to Israel after their vessels were intercepted by the IDF on October 2, 2025 (Foreign Ministry)
“Already several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port. Greta and her friends are safe and healthy,” the Foreign Ministry said late Wednesday.
French politician Marie Mesmeur and Franco-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan reported that their boats were also intercepted. Livestream footage showed activists throwing their phones into the sea after soldiers boarded a ship.
The flotilla — which departed from Spain a month ago — is carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid for Gaza and over 500 people, according to the organizers, some of whom Israel has accused of having ties to Hamas.
The Foreign Ministry published a video of a naval lieutenant speaking over a radio to the activists, warning they were “approaching a blockaded zone.”
An Israeli Navy logistics support vessel with detained activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla, moves in the Mediterranean Sea toward the port of Ashdod, October 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
“If you wish to deliver aid to Gaza, you may do so through the established channels. Please change your course toward the Port of Ashdod, where the aid will undergo a security inspection and then be transferred into the Gaza Strip,” she said.
The ministry’s call to transfer the aid to Gaza through other channels was echoed by other European governments, including Italy, which, along with Spain, had sent a navy ship to follow the flotilla for part of its journey but stopped as they got closer to Gaza’s shores. full article
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
Join my Whatsapp update group https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ3OtwE6ydxBeBAxWNziB0
Twitter - @LonnyB58 Bluesky - @lonny-b.bsky.social
My blogs in The Times of Israel my blogs
Substack - https://lonnyb.substack.com/
Twitter - @LonnyB58
My blogs in The Times of Israel my blogs
Substack - https://lonnyb.substack.com/
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
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