03/10/2025

FRIDAY | OCT 3, 2025

9

Israel boards Gaza aid vessels

BOGOTA: President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday expelled all remaining Israeli diplomats in the country over Israel’s interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and reported detention of two Colombian activists. Petro said two Colombian women, “who were engaged in human solidarity activities with Palestine,“ were detained by Israeli forces in international waters. In a statement, his office said Manuela Bedoya and Luna Barreto were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla and called for their immediate release. The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed that “several vessels” in the flotilla had been “safely stopped” and that the passengers were being brought to an Israeli port. A source at the Israeli consulate in Bogota said Petro severed relations with Israel last year but four diplomats remained posted in the country. Writing on social media platform X, he announced the expulsion of “the entire diplomatic delegation of Israel” over what he called “a new international crime” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also terminated a free-trade deal in force with Israel since 2020. Colombia’s leader is one of Netanyahu’s most vocal critics, calling him “genocidal,“ while also slamming US President Donald Trump as an “accomplice” to “genocide.” Last week, at a pro-Palestinian protest in New York, he called on the US military to “disobey”Trump. – AFP Colombia expels Israeli diplomats Colombian ROME: Italian unions called a general strike today in solidarity with the international aid flotilla for Gaza, while protests sprang up in a number of cities late on Wednesday after reports that the ships had been intercepted by military personnel. In the southern city of Naples, demonstrators got into the main railway station and halted train traffic, while police surrounded the Termini railway station in Rome after protesters gathered close to entrances. The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which consists of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists, includes an Italian contingent. It has been trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza with medicine and food, despite repeated warnings from Israel to turn back. “The aggression against civilian ships that were carrying Italian citizens is an extremely serious matter,“ a union said, calling the strike which other smaller unions said they would join. The announcement comes after a previous general strike in support of Gaza and the GSF called by the grassroots Unione Sindacale di Base on Sept 22 which turned violent in Milan. In the northwestern city of Genoa, the USB announced that it intended to block the port and called on all protesters to gather at 10pm (2000 GMT) at one of the main entrances. Over the past two weeks, protesting Italian dockworkers have prevented various ships from docking and loading, targeting vessels they say were involved in trade with Israel. – Reuters Strike in Italy after flotilla intercepted

The flotilla organisers have repeatedly called on governments and international institutions demanding safety and release of unarmed humanitarians on the mission. According to the flotilla’s own ship tracking data, a total of 13 boats had been intercepted or stopped as of yesterday. Organisers have remained defiant, saying in a statement that the flotilla “will continue undeterred”. Thirty boats were still sailing towards Gaza, flotilla members said in a social media post yesterday, adding they were 46 nautical miles away from their destination. Israel’s navy had previously warned the flotilla it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful blockade, and asked them to change course. It had offered to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza. – Reuters

called on Israel to protect the safety and rights of activists. “Tonight’s reports are very concerning. This is a peaceful mission to shine a light on a horrific humanitarian catastrophe,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris said on X. The boats were about 70 nautical miles off the war-ravaged enclave when they were intercepted, inside a zone that Israel is policing to stop any boats approaching. The organisers said their communications had been scrambled, including the use of a live camera feed from some of the boats. The flotilla members said in separate posts on social media that its vessels Spectre , Alma and Sirius , along with other boats in international waters had been boarded by Israeli forces, and that the status of those on board was unconfirmed.

o Passengers share videos claiming to be abducted, taken against their will

ROME: Israeli forces boarded several boats carrying foreign activists and aid bound for Gaza and took them to an Israeli port on Wednesday, disrupting a protest that has become one of the most high-profile symbols of opposition to Israel’s blockade of the enclave. A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed the most prominent of the flotilla’s passengers, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers. “Several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port,” the Israeli foreign ministry said on social media platform X. “Greta and her friends are safe and healthy.” The Global Sumud Flotilla, transporting medicine and food to Gaza, consists of more than 40 civilian boats with about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists. The flotilla published several videos on social media with messages from individuals aboard the various boats, some holding their passports stating that they have been abducted and taken to Israel against their will, and reiterating that their mission was a non-violent humanitarian cause. Its progress across the Mediterranean Sea garnered international attention as nations including Turkiye, Spain and Italy sent boats or drones in case their nationals required assistance, even as it triggered repeated warnings from Israel to turn back. WASHINGTON: US officials said on Wednesday the country will provide Ukraine with intelligence on long range energy infrastructure targets within Russia, as it weighs whether to send Kyiv missiles that could be used in such strikes. The officials added that the US is also asking Nato allies to provide similar support, confirming details first reported by the Wall Street Journal . The decision represents the first known policy change that President Donald Trump has signed off on since hardening his rhetoric toward Russia in recent weeks in an attempt to end Moscow’s more than three UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday accused Russia of trying to create the risk of nuclear incidents, alleging Moscow deliberately staged an attack that cut off power to the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power station. He also said Moscow was doing nothing to fix the cutoff of external power to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,

Turkiye’s foreign ministry called Israel’s “attack” on the flotilla “an act of terror” that endangered the lives of innocent civilians, and spontaneous protests broke out across Italy in response to the raid. The flotilla is the latest sea-borne attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war. The flotilla’s organisers denounced Wednesday’s raid as a “war crime.” They said the military used aggressive tactics, including the use of water cannon but that no one was harmed. Ankara said that steps had begun for Israel to release Turks and others on board, while Spain

A screen grab from a live stream video shows Israeli navy forces aboard the Oxygono , one of the vessels that form the flotilla. – REUTERSPIC

US to provide Ukraine intel on Russian targets

strikes cut off power to 307,000 customers in the Chernihiv region. Zelensky said more than 20 Russian drones had been deployed in the attack on the town of Slavutych that cut power to the Chernobyl plant for three hours. “The Russians could not have been unaware that a strike on facilities in Slavutych would have such consequences,“ he said on social media, adding that According to US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal , the approval for additional intelligence came shortly before Trump posted on social media last week suggesting that Ukraine could retake all its land occupied by Russia, in a striking rhetorical shift in Kyiv’s favor. “After seeing the Economic missiles, which have a range of 2,500km, enough to hit Moscow and most of European Russia if fired from Ukraine. Ukraine has also developed its own long-range missile named the Flamingo, but quantities are unknown as the weapon is in early production.

now in its eighth day, and was taking advantage of the “weak” position of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its director general, Rafael Grossi. Ukraine’s energy ministry said Russian attacks had cut power to the Chernobyl station, including a containment unit erected to minimise contamination from the world’s biggest nuclear accident in 1986. Energy officials also said year-long war in neighboring Ukraine. Washington has long-been sharing intelligence with Kyiv, but the Wall Street Journal said it would now be easier for Ukraine to hit infrastructure such as refineries, pipelines and power plants with the aim of depriving the Kremlin of revenue and oil. Trump has been pressing European countries to stop buying Russian oil in exchange for his agreement to impose sanctions on Moscow in a bid to try to dry up funding for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move comes as the United States also considers a Ukrainian request to obtain Tomahawk

large quantities of spent fuel remained there. “And this was a deliberate attack in which they used more than 20 drones.” The IAEA issued a statement acknowledging that the plant had experienced “fluctuations” after losing its external power connection, but that alternative lines were used initially and power was later restored. – Reuters trouble (the war) is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form,“ Trump wrote on Truth Social last Tuesday, shortly after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, calling it a “special military operation” to halt Kyiv’s westward geopolitical drift and what it considers to be a dangerous Nato expansion to the east. Kyiv and European allies consider the invasion to be an imperial-style land grab. – Reuters

Chernobyl attack deliberate, says Zelensky