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Monday, May 25, 2026

05/25 Links Pt1: Trump: Iran agreement will be ‘great and meaningful’ or ‘there will be no deal’; Flotidiot: Engaging with IDF was main goal, not humanitarian aid

From Ian:

Trump: Iran agreement will be ‘great and meaningful’ or ‘there will be no deal’
U.S. President Donald Trump pushed back on Monday against critics of the potential agreement being negotiated with Iran, writing on his Truth Social account that any such accord “will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal.”

Trump continued, “It will be the exact opposite of the [2015] JCPOA disaster negotiated by the failed Obama Administration, which was a direct and open path to a Nuclear Weapon for Iran. No, I don’t do deals like that!”

The White House said in a social media post on Sunday that negotiations with Tehran are progressing smoothly. The statement followed an announcement on Friday by Trump that Iran and “various other countries” had “largely negotiated” an agreement to end hostilities.

“The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side. ... Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!” the White House posted, quoting Trump.

The post included an attached statement from the president saying that the relationship between the United States and the Iranians was becoming much more “professional” and “productive.

“They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a nuclear weapon or bomb,” Trump said.

Reportedly, the proposed deal with Iran includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz and easing sanctions to allow Tehran to resume oil exports. In return, Iran reportedly committed not to advance its nuclear program.

Trump defended the potential deal in a Truth Social post on Sunday, saying that if an agreement is reached, “it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon.”

The president continued: “Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet. So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about. Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals! President DJT.”
Iran will play Trump, and he will get his revenge, US evangelical leader predicts
The Islamic Republic of Iran is likely to “double-cross” U.S. President Donald Trump in any agreement it reaches with Washington, and he will eventually retaliate, American evangelical leader Mike Evans said on Monday.

The remarks by Evans, founder of Jerusalem’s Friends of Zion Museum, come amid high-stakes negotiations aimed at ending the war and addressing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“If Iran double-crosses Trump and makes a fool out of him—and I believe they will—he will get his revenge and he will finish the job,” Evans told JNS in an interview in Jerusalem during a visit to Israel. “Donald Trump plays the long game; while they are playing checkers, he is playing chess.”

Evans predicted that another round of fighting could break out next year following the U.S. midterm elections and said that by 2028, the Islamic Republic, which has ruled Iran for nearly half a century, would have fallen.

Evans said Trump’s weekend call for Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia, to join the landmark 2020 Abraham Accords was “extremely realistic” and could be achieved by next year.

He attributed Trump’s steadfast support for Israel to his evangelical Christian base and downplayed recent public opinion polls showing declining support for Israel in some sectors of American society.

“Most of it came from Gaza, which fed and fueled the narrative,” Evans said. “Once there is calm, there will be healing. It will take some time to re-educate.”

He acknowledged the PR challenges Israel faces after more than two and a half years of war on multiple fronts.

“You are draining a swamp filled with alligators and hoping the alligators don’t bite, so there will be some setbacks amid the successes,” he said. “You can’t gauge moral clarity by public opinion.”
Filing submitted against Hamas at ICC on behalf of Palestinian from Gaza
A filing has been submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on behalf of a Palestinian from Gaza calling for 14 Hamas leaders to be investigated for war crimes committed against the Palestinian people, an American lawyer said last week.

The legal move, which was made in December, has gone unanswered even as ICC prosecutors have reportedly requested a warrant for the arrest of Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

The filing, the first such against the terror organization on behalf of a Palestinian, was made for a Gazan who lost his spouse, children, a parent, nieces and nephews during the two-year war sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, according to his legal team.

“The atrocity crimes perpetrated by Hamas against [REDACTED] family members, and against substantially all of the Palestinian civilian inhabitants of Gaza, constitute grave breaches of international criminal law,” the filing reads. “Yet to this day, there has never been a disclosed OTP [Office of the Prosecutor] investigation or request for issuance of warrants for any of the Hamas leaders ... complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity that they committed against the civilian Gazan population.”

The submission lists an array of war crimes that Hamas is alleged to have committed against Palestinians in Gaza including: utilizing the presence of civilians or other protected persons as human shields; attacking civilians; intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects; willfully causing great suffering; destruction and appropriation of property; excessive incidental death, injury, or damage; attacking protected objects; committing outrages upon personal dignity; using, conscripting, or enlisting children; sentencing or execution without due process.

“We don’t stop seeking justice because the court does not want to respond,” attorney Elliot Malin of Reno, Nevada, told JNS last week. “We will continue kicking on the door until they deliver justice for the victims.”


Trump says ‘mandatory’ for Muslim nations involved in Iran deal to join Abraham Accords
US President Donald Trump insisted on Monday that six Muslim-majority countries join the Abraham Accords normalization agreements with Israel ahead of any deal between the US and Iran to end the war, negotiations on which he said were “proceeding nicely.”

The remarks were the second time in as many days that Trump tried to link the emerging deal with Iran to the accords, which were first signed in September 2020 by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, followed by Morocco and Sudan months later.

“Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all,” Trump announced on Truth Social on Monday, reiterating his oft-uttered threat that if no deal is reached, it will mean “Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.”

He said that during discussions with leaders of Muslim and Arab states, he told them that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”

He specified that the countries he wished to see sign onto the accords included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan. He said he also spoke to the UAE and Bahrain about this possibility.

It was not clear why Egypt and Jordan would be required to sign the Abraham Accords, given that both have had peace treaties with Israel since 1979 and 1994, respectively. Turkey and Israel have had rocky relations almost since the founding of the State of Israel, with long periods of amicable ties, although those have nosedived in the past decade.

After the US leader’s comments, a Saudi source told international outlets that Riyadh will only normalize relations with Israel if an “irreversible pathway” to Palestinian statehood is established.

The Trump administration has long viewed Saudi-Israeli normalization as the crown jewel of the Abraham Accords, though efforts toward that end largely stalled during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Riyadh has since repeatedly insisted that such an agreement must follow meaningful movement on the Palestinian issue.
Trump ally says Saudi Crown Prince MBS told him he could recognize Israel ‘today’
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman privately told evangelical leader and Trump ally Mike Evans that he was ready to recognize Israel “today,” but that his father, King Salman, remained the obstacle, Evans told The Jerusalem Post on Monday during a visit to Israel.

“When I talked to the crown prince, he told me that he would acknowledge Israel today,” Evans said. “But he said his problem was his father.”

Evans, the founder of Friends of Zion and a longtime evangelical supporter of Israel, said he met with the Saudi crown prince for two hours, with MBS’s brother and the Saudi foreign minister also present. According to Evans, the crown prince’s brother expressed a similar view.

The account could not be independently verified by the Post.

The comments came as US President Donald Trump moved to link a possible Iran deal to a broader push for Arab and Muslim countries to join the Abraham Accords.

Trump said Monday that countries including Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey should join the accords as part of an effort to reach a deal with Iran, Reuters reported. Trump also said he had spoken Saturday with leaders from those countries, as well as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Claim that MBS rejected the idea of dividing Jerusalem into two capitals

Axios reported Sunday that Trump asked leaders from several Arab and Muslim-majority countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain, to normalize relations with Israel after a possible agreement to end the Iran war.

Evans said he believed Trump’s demand was serious.

“I think it’s genuine,” Evans said. “Donald Trump has got enormous negotiating leverage with Saudi Arabia right now. Enormous leverage. And I don’t think there’s any question of the doubt that the president plans on delivering these countries because he’s trying to move towards a genuine peace.”

Evans said the Saudi crown prince had also been sharply critical of the Palestinians during their private conversation.

“The crown prince said, speaking to the Palestinians, they wasted our money,” Evans said. “He said they shouldn’t be attacking Israel. They should be copying Israel.”

Evans also claimed that MBS rejected the idea of dividing Jerusalem into two capitals.


Call me Back Podcast: What we know about the emerging Iran deal - with Nadav Eyal and Mark Dubowitz
If Trump signs an interim deal with Iran, what leverage is left to dismantle Iran's nuclear program?

As reports swirl around a possible U.S.-Iran agreement, Dan sits down with Nadav Eyal and Mark Dubowitz to sort through what’s actually on the table — and what could unravel next. The conversation centers around the core dilemmas facing Washington, Jerusalem, and the Gulf: whether this moment represents strategic containment of Iran or the beginning of a slow retreat from the leverage created by the war.

They debate the risks of a “Hormuz for Hormuz” deal, the future of Iran’s nuclear stockpile, the limits of economic pressure, and whether the military gains can survive a prolonged diplomatic pause. Hovering over the entire conversation is a deeper question: after months of escalation, what would victory look like now?

In this episode:
What’s Actually in the Emerging U.S.-Iran Deal
The “Hormuz for Hormuz” Tradeoff
Iran’s Uranium Stockpile
Could Trump Sustain Military and Economic Pressure?
The Gulf States’ Interests
Hezbollah, Lebanon, and the Axis of Resistance
What Israelis Think of The Deal
Will This Be Remembered as a Turning Point — or the Moment the West Blinked?


US strikes Iranian boats, missile launch sites in 'self defense', says CENTCOM
The US military carried out "self-defense" strikes in southern Iran against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, Fox News reported on Tuesday.

“US forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said.

“US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” he added.

Two Iranian boats were spotted laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, reported Fox News, citing a senior US official. Forces also responded after a missile site had targeted US warplanes, said the official.

The US military eliminated both IRGC vessels, he added.

He also confirmed that the US struck a surface-to-air missile (SAM) site in Bandar Abbas, following reports of explosions in the city by Iranian media.

Other explosions were reported close to Sirik and Jask, located near the strait.

The official told Fox News that the strikes were "defensive," while two additional sources said that the strikes do not indicate that the ceasefire with Iran is over.
Netanyahu orders IDF to ‘intensify blows’ against Hezbollah amid surge in drone attacks
Israel will escalate strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, as a US official said the terror group had ignored warnings to halt firing at Israel in a conflict that could threaten US-Iran negotiations.

The prime minister’s remarks were followed by confirmation from the IDF that it had launched a fresh wave of strikes against Hezbollah targets in eastern and southern Lebanon.

Lebanese security sources said people had begun fleeing the southern suburbs of Beirut, a known Hezbollah stronghold, for fear of a renewed Israeli assault on the capital.

In Israel, local leaders in communities along the northern border announced that schools would be shut Tuesday and until further notice, with most studies shifted to distance learning. The decisions were taken independently and without instruction to do so from the IDF Home Front Command.

A senior US official indicated on Monday, amid a surge in drone attacks targeting Israel, that Washington could soon greenlight a larger Israeli operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to trade blows despite an April 16 truce aimed at halting the deadliest spillover of the US-Israeli joint war on Iran. However, Israel has avoided targeting the terror group in Beirut and other locations beyond southern Lebanon, facing pressure from Washington amid the talks with Iran. Tehran has demanded a halt to Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a condition in talks with the US aimed at ending the broader war.

The IDF has struggled to counter the daily threat of Hezbollah drone attacks on IDF troops in Lebanon and on communities in northern Israel.

Netanyahu said Israel would begin intensifying its operations in Lebanon again, after incidents on Monday in which an unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into a home in the northern border community of Metula, and an explosive drone damaged a school bus stop in the border village of Shomera. A soldier was also killed by a suicide drone on Sunday, the latest in a line of servicemen recently killed in such attacks.

“Hezbollah has ignored repeated requests to stop firing at Israel, including a recent ultimatum,” the senior US official told The Times of Israel. “Israel will never be expected to passively absorb attacks on its forces and civilians. This is not the Biden administration.”

The official noted that over the past eight days, Hezbollah had fired over 1,000 drones and more than 700 rockets at Israel, in an apparent bid to derail talks between Jerusalem and Beirut, several rounds of which have been held in Washington.
Hostile aircraft launched by Hezbollah infiltrate Galilee border area
Sirens warning of hostile aerial threats sounded throughout Monday in Israeli communities situated along the Lebanese border.

Since the morning hours, the Israel Defense Forces reported successive incidents of hostile aircraft infiltration of Israeli territory. There were no initial reports of injuries.

These included the areas of Moshav Shtula, the Bedouin village of Arab al-Aramshe and the town of Metula.

Several direct hits were recorded in northern Israel, including in Metula, according to the military. An unmanned aircraft also hit an area in Southern Lebanon where Israeli troops are operating, the IDF added.

The army noted that there were no casualties in the incident, which is under review.

The drone in Metula made a direct hit on a private residence where a senior and his nursing care worker were present, Ynet reported. They were unharmed, but the home caught fire; it was extinguished by members of the community’s emergency squad and fire and rescue forces, the report added.

Avi Nadiv, deputy head of the local council, is a neighbor of the senior citizen. His family had only recently moved back into Metula after their former home was destroyed by anti-tank missiles fired by Hezbollah during the early stages of the war, according to the report.

Speaking to the outlet, Nadiv said, “I’m afraid of having to go through everything I went through with the house all over again. It’s such a terrible feeling. This is not a situation we are prepared to live in. We have to wake up.”

He added that six air-raid sirens sounded in the area since the morning hours and that the direct impact of the drone took place almost simultaneously with the sounding of the siren warning of its approach.

“We want to develop Metula, and we have the strength to do it, but for the past month and a half we’ve been crying out that nothing is being done. Hezbollah has grown stronger and is now in a position where it allows itself to do this because we are not responding forcefully. It’s simply surreal. We are no longer willing to take this and no longer willing to live like this. ... Enough of this. [The government] needs to start acting and do the job,” Nadiv was quoted as saying.


IDF kills Hamas terrorist tied to Oct. 7 Zikim attack
Israeli forces on Friday killed a Hamas terrorist who infiltrated the Zikim base during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday.

Louay Hisham Mahmoud Basal, a member of Hamas’s Zeitoun Battalion in Gaza City who served as a sniper, was killed in a targeted strike after being identified as an immediate threat to Israeli troops, according to the IDF.

The military said intelligence assessments indicated Basal had participated in the Oct. 7 assault and had recently been involved in planning attacks against IDF forces.

The IDF said it took measures to minimize civilian harm ahead of the strike, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.

Israeli forces under Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue operating to neutralize threats, the military added.
Ramzy Baroud’s Memoir Details Relatives’ Extensive Hamas Ties
Ramzy Baroud, editor-in-chief of the Washington state-based Palestine Chronicle, has placed relatives’ Hamas-linked history at the center of his newest book while the U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit behind his media outlet remains embroiled in a federal lawsuit brought by three former Israeli hostages. Analyst Leslie Kajomovitz reviewed Baroud’s memoir in an X post, highlighting its account of relatives who joined Hamas and fought in Gaza.

Baroud’s Before the Flood traces the al-Badrasawi branch of his family through Gaza’s wars and into Hamas, while the lawsuit alleges that Palestine Chronicle writer Abdallah Aljamal was a Hamas operative who held Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov captive in his family home. A federal judge allowed the amended case to proceed past a motion to dismiss, holding that the plaintiffs plausibly alleged that the defendants knew Aljamal was affiliated with Hamas and continued compensating him after October 7.

I thought Ramzy Baroud proudly telling the world that his cousin was a commander in the al-Qassam Brigades and a suicide bomber during the war was wild.

In his new book, Ramzy also openly and proudly discusses, among many other things, how Ehab, his son Abdularahman, and Baha’

Baroud’s publisher describes Before the Flood as a multigenerational Gaza family memoir focused on the al-Badrasawi family. Promotional material for the book says Ehab al-Badrasawi joined Hamas after the death of his younger brother Wael and that the story moves toward October 7 as Ehab’s son and nephew also “join the fight.”

In her review of the book, analyst Leslie Kajomovitz highlighted what she described as Baroud’s account of the al-Badrasawi family’s movement into the orbit of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas’s co-founder and spiritual leader, and Ehab’s rise as a central figure in the family’s militant history.

According to Kajomovitz, the memoir describes Ehab as joining Hamas at a young age, spending time in Israeli prison with senior Hamas figures, serving as a bodyguard for Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, helping build Hamas tunnels, recruiting for the Nukhba forces of the al-Qassam Brigades, and participating in Hamas’s naval commando force. She also wrote that Baroud’s account links Ehab, one of his sons, and a nephew in the Nukhba force to the October 7 attacks.

In a May 14 interview with Chris Hedges, Baroud described Ehab as a relative from the Badrasawi branch of his family and said Ehab began attending lectures by Yassin after Wael’s death. Baroud also stated that Ehab later “blew himself up,” followed by his sons Abdulrahman and Muhammad.

The amended complaint in Jan v. People Media Project names Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov as plaintiffs. All three were kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7 and were held for 246 days before being rescued from Abdallah Aljamal’s home, according to the court’s summary of the allegations.


European Parliament-Financed Event Features Hezbollah-Linked Activist Alongside EU Lawmakers
On May 27, the European Left Alliance will host “Justice for Palestine – stop al Trattato UE-Israele” in Italy, an event organized within its broader European Citizens’ Initiative campaign calling for suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The European Left Alliance event page states that the event is “Financed by the European Parliament,” while adding that the Parliament is not responsible for the content.

Dyab Abou Jahjah, co-founder and general director of the Hind Rajab Foundation, is listed as a featured speaker. Abou Jahjah is a self-described former Hezbollah member who has claimed to have received military training from the terrorist organization. Francesca Albanese, a UN Special Rapporteur, is also scheduled to appear. Albanese’s participation is particularly notable because, on May 23, 2026, a U.S. appeals court reportedly stayed a lower-court order that had blocked enforcement of her sanctions, allowing the measures to proceed while the appeal continues.

According to the Justice for Palestine campaign website, the European Left Alliance provided €32,281 in funding across two tranches: €25,000 on January 12, 2026, and €7,281 on February 1, 2026.

Self-Described Hezbollah Member on Speaker List
Dyab Abou Jahjah is featured on the event’s speaker list as a co-founder and general director of the Hind Rajab Foundation. In a 2003 New York Times profile, Abou Jahjah was quoted describing himself as a former Hezbollah member who had received military training. He was arrested by Belgian authorities in 2002 after being accused of inciting riots in Antwerp and has repeatedly praised Hezbollah and Hamas on social media. In 2024, he wrote that he met with former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2001. Hind Rajab Foundation’s Coordinated Lawfare Campaigns

The Hind Rajab Foundation, led by Abou Jahjah, operates as a Brussels-registered organization engaged in coordinated legal actions against Israeli citizens and soldiers globally. Since its launch in September 2024, the foundation has filed lawfare complaints against Israeli Defense Force personnel and civilians across multiple countries, including Greece, Ecuador, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the UK, and others.


Victorian Labor 'disgraces itself’ after backing anti-Israel motion
Sky News host Chris Kenny says the Victorian Labor Party “disgraced itself” after backing anti-Israel motions in Melbourne.

“Not only did the ALP convention condemn Israel over the war in Gaza, its war of self-defence and survival, the ALP convention even invoked the absurd charge of apartheid against Israel,” Mr Kenny said.

“It called for the release of a convicted Palestinian terrorist, Marwan Barghouti.”




‘Systemic issues’: Calls grow for ABC probe over anti-Israel claims
Shadow Communications Minister Sarah Henderson calls for a Royal Commission into Australia’s public broadcasters and cultural institutions.

“I share your concerns about the ABC’s reporting on these issues,” Ms Henderson told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“This is why I have called for the Royal Commission to investigate our public broadcasters and our cultural organisations with a distinct dedicated block of hearings.

“We’re seeing systemic issues. A lot of anti- Israel sentiment is running through these cultural organisations.”




Israel, Canada issue very different readouts of foreign ministers call
Gideon Sa’ar and Anita Anand, foreign affairs ministers of Israel and Canada respectively, agreed on Monday that they held a phone call. But readouts from Jerusalem and Ottawa appeared to emphasize very different aspects of that conversation.

Sa’ar stated at about 11:30 a.m. Eastern time that he had spoken with Ananad and that he “described the sole aim of the extremist, anti-Israel flotilla activists: provocation at the service of Hamas.”

“Just look at the what they did afterwards in Spain, Greece and Austria,” the Israeli minister stated. “Israel will continue to act in full accordance with international law and will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza.”

“I also highlighted the horrific antisemitic wave in Canada—an average of 19 incidents a day,” he added. “The Canadian government must take steps against antisemitic incitement and attacks.”

Anand issued a readout nearly four-and-a-half hours later.

“Spoke this morning with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to raise Canada’s serious concern with Israel’s mistreatment of Canadian participants in the flotilla,” the Canadian minister stated. “I raised that denying Canadian citizens access to consular services while they were detained violates the Vienna Convention and must never happen again.”

“Canada is providing Israeli authorities with evidence of this mistreatment,” Anand stated. “We have asked for and expect an independent investigation and those responsible to be held to account.”

“We also discussed the deplorable rise of antisemitism in Canada and the steps that the government of Canada is taking to protect Canada’s Jewish community from hate and violence,” she added.


Libyan forces detain 10 Gaza land convoy activists at Sirte checkpoint
Ten Gaza land convoy activists were detained by Libyan forces on Sunday, the Global Sumud Flotilla announced on Monday, after several hours without communication with a contingent that had attempted to cross a checkpoint into the eastern part of the country.

Activists hailing from Spain, Poland, Italy, Argentina, Uruguay, Portugal, Tunisia, and the USA had attempted to cross a checkpoint at Sirte on their way to Gaza, but were allegedly arrested by security forces affiliated with the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, one of the two main governing factions in the embattled state.

GSF urged supporters to contact their governments to pressure the ruling authority over eastern Libya, the Government of National Stability, to release their activists.

Negotiations between the Global Sumud Land Convoy and GNS for safe passage through their territory had stalled on Sunday, according to a GSF press release, with repeated requests for meetings ignored.

"The genocide and blockade on Gaza continue, and the Palestinian people cannot wait for bureaucratic absurdity to receive relief and aid," said GSF.

On Sunday, social media accounts associated with the convoy announced that they were moving ahead in an attempt to cross the eastern territory into Egypt. A convoy of 200 activists and thirty vehicles

Operating in tandem with the Gaza flotilla that had been intercepted by Israeli naval forces last week, the land convoy had launched from Zalitan, Libya, last Saturday but stalled outside Sirte the following day amid concerns over a confrontation with Libyan forces.

The convoy of 200 activists and thirty vehicles, most of which are mobile homes, sought to challenge an Egyptian and Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The previous land convoy in June had also stopped at Sirte, where it later disbanded after Libyan forces refused to let them pass.


Gaza flotilla activist: Engaging with IDF was main goal, not humanitarian aid
A Gaza flotilla participant and well-known New York City anti-Israel activist said on Sunday that the primary objective of the blockade run on Gaza last week was not to deliver humanitarian aid, but to confront the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and draw attention to the Palestinian cause.

In a Palestinian Youth Movement NYC Instagram video, Adalah co-vessel organizer Rosa Martinez said that the goals of the April and May flotillas had been misrepresented in the media as "some sort of humanitarian aid mission."

"I think that's kind of flattening what it is that we're doing. Yes, there is aid. The aid that we have isn't sufficient to the structural issues in a post 'ceasefire' Gaza," said Martinez, who is also known by the forename Rudy, said upon his return to the United States. "For me, as someone who, I think at this juncture in history, is very wedded to direct action, I feel like directly confronting the Israeli occupation forces [IDF] at sea as we try to break this 20-year genocidal siege... is a historic responsibility."

Martinez continued that for him the priorities of the activist mission were "engaging with the IOF directly, putting the spotlight back on Gaza, 'cause it has fallen off the headlines."

The activist also argued that the effort opened his movement to expanded tactics.

Martinez, who was arrested on May 18 when his vessel was interdicted by Israeli naval forces along with 54 other Global Sumud Flotilla ships, said that his four-day detainment was a "waking nightmare," but argued that it was a fraction of what Palestinians endured.





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