News Digest — 10/2/25
Israel Intercepts Gaza Flotilla, Detains Thunberg And Others, Says She And Her Friends Are Safe
Israel’s navy on Wednesday night (1st) began to intercept 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, continued overnight and into Thursday morning (2nd).
Troops had boarded at least six of the 47 ships in the Global Sumud Flotilla by midnight, detaining the activists aboard after jamming their signals.
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.
“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 ministry said.
French politician Marie Mesmeur and Franco-Palestinian MFP 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 to 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.”
“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.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed the Israeli intervention and told state TV Rai that the activists would be deported in the coming days.
He also said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told him that the Israeli Defense Forces were instructed ”not to use violence.”
The Sirius, Alma and Adara boats were intercepted some 80 miles from the coast of Gaza, according to organizers who shared live positions of the flotilla, well into Israel’s declared exclusion zone extending to where the navy has previously stopped ships attempting to break the blockade.
Shortly before troops began boarding the boats, Palestinian terrorists from northern Gaza fired five rockets at Ashdod; four were intercepted by air defenses, and one landed in an open area, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since the Hamas terror group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007 in a violent coup.
Israel said it was necessary to limit Hamas’ ability to smuggle in arms.
Israel has come under international pressure over its war in Gaza. The war started on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel Marks Tense Yom Kippur, As Hamas Mulls Trump’s Offer And Army Fights In Gaza
Israel shut down late on Wednesday afternoon (1st) for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, nearly two years since the beginning of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The country was on edge as it awaited Hamas’ response to US President Donald Trump’s peace proposal – already accepted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – to end the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
In the meantime, the war pressed on over the fast, with IDF troops carrying out an offensive in Gaza City, and the Navy preparing to intercept the 47-boat Global Sumud Flotilla approaching the Strip with aid.
Israel was also bracing for potential friction in the West Bank, with the military sending reinforcements in the form of combat trainees to various fronts over the Jewish holiday season.
On Monday night (2/29) before Yom Kippur, thousands gathered at the Western Wall for the last night of solemn Selichot prayers, with families of hostages in Gaza in attendance.
Elnay Zangauker, mother of hostage Mitan Zangauker, placed a note between the stones in the wall, asking God for the return of the captives and the safe return of all soldiers fighting in the Strip.
Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch read out the names of all the 48 remaining hostages during the service, in which observant Jews traditionally ask God for forgiveness for their sins during the past year.
Despite the ongoing war, much of Israel shut down for Yom Kippur according to traditions.
All flights in and out of Ben Gurion Airport ceased at 2 p.m. on Wednesday (1st). The airport will reopen Thursday night (2nd), with arrivals starting at 10:00 p.m., while departures will resume an hour later. During this period, Israel’s airspace is also closed to flights passing through.
Border crossings were also shut and will reopen late Thursday (2nd).
Trains stopped operating at 1 p.m. Wednesday (1st), and will resume on Friday morning (3rd), as inner-city buses and inter-city transport also halted their routes starting at 2 p.m. They will gradually restart on Thursday evening (2nd).
Cars on roads are usually replaced with multitudes of people on bicycles and other non-motorized vehicles. Driving during the Jewish Day of Atonement is considered taboo, and many secular Israelis have turned the day into a biking holiday, taking advantage of car-free roads.
Yom Kippur is one of the busiest days of the year for emergency calls, with hundreds of extra medics, paramedics, ambulances and volunteers deployed across the country.
Most injuries over Yom Kippur come from accidents on the roads as tens of thousands of children and teens take advantage of the deserted streets to ride their bicycles. Dehydration and complications from fasting also need medical attention, according to MDA.
The Jewish High Holidays have been considered a time of heightened tensions in the West Bank even before Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught on Israel that started the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The same period in previous years often saw closure of crossings between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza.
IDF Retakes Netzarim Corridor
Minister of Defense Israel Katz announced on Wednesday (1st) that the IDF has completed the recapturing of the Netzarim Corridor to the shore, cutting the Gaza Strip in half.
According to the IDF, over the past day, troops began precise ground activity in the northern Gaza Strip aimed at strengthening and maintaining operational control of the Netzarim Corridor. As part of the activity, the troops acted to disrupt the operational capabilities of Hamas in the area and to expand operational control.
The IDF withdrew from part of the corridor, which had served as a patrol route in the central Gaza Strip, as part of the previous hostage release and ceasefire agreement.
According to the Minister, the move will tighten the siege around Gaza City, and anyone moving south will have to pass through IDF checkpoints.
Katz noted: “This is the last chance for Gaza residents who wish to move south and leave the Hamas terrorists isolated in Gaza City with the IDF’s operations, which are continuing in full force.”
The Defense Minister also stressed that the IDF is prepared for all possibilities, and is “determined to continue until the return of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas to end the war.”
I Refuse To Apologize For Being Jewish – Galit Solomon
I’m fed up. Fed up with being reduced to a political symbol every time I open my mouth. Fed up with being expected to apologize for my existence. Fed up with smart, progressive, educated people deciding that my grief, my culture, and my holidays are conditional. That my identity is only palatable if I denounce it first.
Being Jewish right now means walking into rooms and wondering if your very presence will be treated as a provocation. It means watching people you once admired parrot slogans that erase your history. It means being expected to condemn Israel loudly and publicly before you’re allowed to mourn the Oct. 7 massacre.
I am exhausted by the ease with which anti-Semitism now dresses itself up in the language of justice. I’m angry that so many Jews are being made to feel like strangers in spaces they once called home: universities, activist circles, dinner tables.
I’m writing it because I want you to feel what it’s like to sit at a table where everyone’s talking about human rights, and somehow, you’re the only one who doesn’t get any. Being Jewish in this moment is to constantly navigate suspicion, scrutiny, and erasure. May this year bring more truth. More courage. And a lot less silence.
The writer is a former news journalist who currently works as the National Director of Ben-Gurion University Canada. (National Post-Canada)
Germany Arrests Hamas Cell Plotting Attacks On Jewish Institutions
German federal prosecutors announced Wednesday (1st) the arrest of three suspected Hamas members believed to be preparing a serious act of violence on German soil, Reuters reported.
The subjects – identified under German privacy laws as Abed Al G., a German citizen; Wael F. M., born in Lebanon, and Ahmad I., also a German citizen – were apprehended in Berlin.
Authorities suspect the men of procuring firearms and ammunition for Hamas since at least the summer, with the intent to carry out assassinations targeting Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany.
“In the course of Wednesday’s (1st) arrests, various weapons, including an AK 47 assault rifle and several pistols, as well as a considerable amount of ammunition, were found,” federal prosecutors stated.
According to Der Spiegel, anti-terror investigators observed the suspects meeting in Berlin for a weapons handover. Operational forces intervened and discovered functional weapons at the scene.
The arrests come months after four Hamas members went on trial in Berlin in February, accused of plotting attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe. Prosecutors described that case as the first of its kind against Islamist Hamas terrorists in Germany.
Last November, German federal prosecutors announced that they have charged four alleged members of Hamas, accusing them of acquiring and storing weapons for the group in Europe.
The suspects include two individuals born in Lebanon, an Egyptian national, and a Dutch citizen, all facing charges of “membership in a foreign terrorist organization,” according to a statement from the federal prosecutor’s office.
Prosecutors alleged the men “held important positions within the association with direct ties to leaders of the military wing” of Hamas.
The four suspects were apprehended in December 2023. Dutch citizen Nazih R. was arrested in Rotterdam by local authorities, while the other three were detained in Berlin.
Germany banned activities of Hamas and affiliated organizations following the group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
