Israeli forces attack Gaza-bound aid Ship ‘Madleen’; Activists on board kidnapped in international waters

News Network
June 9, 2025

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Israeli forces have attacked a humanitarian aid ship bound for Gaza as the vessel approached the coastal waters of the besieged Palestinian territory.

Thiago Avila, a Brazilian activist on board the Madleen ship, said in a social media post on Monday morning that they were surrounded by Israeli army ships.

He added that the regime’s forces have attacked Madleen, a humanitarian aid vessel that was attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

"Connection has been lost on the 'Madleen'. The Israeli army has boarded the vessel," the Freedom Flotilla Coalition posted on Telegram, adding that Israeli forces kidnapped the passengers.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg was among 12 international campaigners aboard the Madleen. “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament of Palestinian descent, are also onboard the vessel.

Rima Hassan broadcast images of the sirens sounding on the ship.

Mahmud Abu-Odeh, a Germany-based press officer with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, told AFP that "the activists seemed to be arrested."

According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Palestine, five Israeli speedboats have reached the Madleen ship.

Francesca Albanese said the Madeleine crew has informed Israeli forces that they are carrying humanitarian aid and that they will leave safely.

“I heard the soldiers speaking while the captain was on the phone with me,” Albanese said.

“I lost connection with the captain as he was telling me that ‘another boat is approaching’.”

The new development came after Hamas warned the Israeli regime against taking any measure to stop the Madleen ship, holding the regime fully responsible for the lives of activists aboard it.

Earlier, the Israeli minister of military affairs, Israel Katz, threatened to block the aid ship from reaching Gaza, accusing Thunberg and fellow activists of being “Hamas propagandists.”

He had instructed the regime’s forces to take action "by land, sea, and air" to prevent the ship from reaching Gaza.

 Blatant act of piracy

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Israel's seizure of the Freedom Flotilla ship and its crew.

“We strongly condemn the cowardly and illegal Israeli attack on the Madleen’s as it approached Gaza with desperately needed humanitarian supplies,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.

“This is a blatant act of international piracy and state terrorism,” he said.

“The Israeli occupation has no legal right to blockade the Gaza coast, much less to drop chemical weapons on humanitarian aid boats and abduct their passengers in international waters,” Awad added.

Awad called on the Israeli regime to immediately release the ship’s crew.

“We applaud Greta Thunberg and the other activists of the Madleen who bravely risked their safety and freedom to help the starving people of Gaza,” he said.

The Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, set sail from Sicily last week carrying urgent humanitarian supplies for Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, desalination kits, medical aid, and children’s prosthetics.

Israeli drones hit a vessel operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Conscience, in international waters off the coast of Malta on May 2.

The group condemned the attack at the time, calling it a clear “violation of international law.”

UN agencies and major aid groups have warned that Gaza is at risk of famine if more aid is not brought in. They say Israeli restrictions, the breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.

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News Network
December 2,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 2: Mangaluru International Airport responded to a medical emergency late on Monday night. Air India Express flight IX 522, travelling from Riyadh to Thiruvananthapuram, was diverted to Mangaluru Airport after a passenger in his late 30s experienced a medical emergency on board.

The Airport’s Operations Control Centre received an alert regarding the passenger’s health condition. The airport activated its emergency response protocol, mobilising the airport medical team and coordinating with stakeholders including CISF, immigration, and customs. 

Upon landing, airport medical personnel attended to the passenger, assessed his condition, and arranged to shift him to a local tertiary-care hospital for further treatment. The passenger’s relatives accompanied the passenger, who incidentally received necessary medical care on board, which helped stabilise the situation.

Following the handling of the emergency, the flight departed for Thiruvananthapuram at 2:05 am on Tuesday.

"We appreciate the cooperation of all parties involved, and this incident reaffirms our ongoing commitment to prioritising passenger safety and readiness to respond to unforeseen emergencies with professionalism and care," the Airport spokesperson said. 

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News Network
November 22,2025

Mangaluru: Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H has warned of strict action against individuals spreading rumours and attempting to create insecurity within the Muslim community and fuel hatred between Hindus and Muslims through social media.

Referring to a recent social media post alleging that police personnel had entered a masjid premises to check whether beef was being cooked, the commissioner said miscreants were attempting to push their communal agenda. 

“A group of people, both from Mangaluru and abroad, are trying hard to spread rumours. For the past 10 days, they have been attempting to rake up old issues, highlight routine matters as controversies, or fabricate news altogether,” he said.

He reiterated that any such attempts to disturb communal harmony would invite legal action. “Cases will be registered and the accused will be brought to book,” he stated.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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