Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at global responses to Israel’s naval blockade of Gazathe Czech Republic’s parliamentary election, and unidentified drones over Germany.
‘This Barbarity Must End’
Israeli forces on Friday boarded the final vessel in a 44-ship humanitarian aid flotilla that was trying to deliver vital supplies to Gaza. Capturing the Polish-flagged Marinette marked the end of a tense two-day naval operation by Israel to stop hundreds of activists from attempting to break through its blockade of the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, all 461 detained activists with the Global Sumud Flotilla are “safe and in good health” and are preparing to be deported.
Although Israel maintains that the volunteers were trying to “breach a lawful naval blockade,” foreign governments and rights activists have condemned the country for endangering civilian lives in Gaza by preventing aid from entering the war-torn territory. “This barbarity must end,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said. “Peace must be given a chance, and humanitarian aid must reach those in need.”
People from at least 44 countries participated in the flotilla. In light of Israel’s actions, Colombian President Gustavo Petro expelled Israeli diplomats from Bogotá and canceled the two nations’ free trade agreement; Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned the intervention as an “act of terrorism” that violates international law; and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa demanded that “the life-saving cargo transported by this flotilla reaches the people of Gaza,” adding that the fleet “represents solidarity with Gaza, not confrontation with Israel.”
The International Committee to Break the Siege of Gaza, a Palestinian initiative established in 2009 to mobilize the international community to try and end the blockade, said on Friday that several detainees have “entered an open-ended hunger strike from the moment of their detention” to protest their capture. And Reporters Without Borders denounced Israel’s detention of the more than 20 journalists who were on board. “Arresting journalists and preventing them from doing their work is a serious violation of the right to inform and be informed,” said Martin Roux, the head of the group’s crisis desk.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations erupted across Western Europe in response to the flotilla’s seizure, with some protesters vandalizing shops and restaurants. However, these countries’ governments issued a more muted response. Several nations—including Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, and the United Kingdom—centered their condemnation on their citizens’ detentions rather than calling out Israel for preventing aid from entering Gaza.
“Shame on Western governments first and foremost, and their complicit inaction,” Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on Palestine, wrote on X. The United Nations itself has not issued a public comment on the Global Sumud Flotilla.
A new flotilla of 11 ships, carrying medics and journalists, embarked for Gaza on Friday in another attempt to challenge Israel’s naval blockade.
In the meantime, war continues to rage in Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump has given Hamas until Sunday to accept his peace plan, which would include the release of all Hamas-held hostages in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners, create an international transitional body to help govern Gaza, and allow aid to enter the territory unimpeded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the proposal earlier this week.
“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump warned on Truth Social on Friday. “THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.”
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
A right-wing return? Voting for the Czech Republic’s two-day parliamentary election began on Friday, with local polling favoring Andrej Babis, the populist and scandal-riddled former prime minister. A Babis victory would oust the country’s current center-right government from office and put Prague on a similar path to other European nations that have grown increasingly conservative in recent years, particularly on anti-immigration and climate-denialism issues.
Babis is campaigning on raising wages, cutting taxes, and increasing pensions, pointing to high inflation following the COVID-19 pandemic as evidence that Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s coalition—including his liberal partners—is not helping voters. Babis has also pledged to reduce aid for Ukraine. The Czech Republic was among the first countries to supply Kyiv with tanks, ammunition, and other military vehicles under the so-called Czech initiative, but Babis has vowed to end that program, citing it as too costly.
No major Czech party is expected to win an outright majority, meaning difficult negotiations will likely ensue to secure a governing coalition. When Babis was first elected prime minister in 2017, his government was considered center-left. But after cofounding the Patriots for Europe, a right-wing opposition party in the European Union, with populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban last year, Babis is expected to lean on more far-right partners to solidify a majority in parliament.
Another drone sighting. Germany has become the latest European country to have spotted unidentified drones flying over its critical infrastructure. On Wednesday, German authorities began investigating claims that drones flew near a power plant, university hospital, and shipyard in the port city of Kiel last week. And on Thursday, more unidentified drones were spotted over Munich International Airport, delaying flights until Friday morning and impacting thousands of travelers.
Such actions—akin to similar incidents across Europe—have raised concerns of potential Russian saber-rattling in the region. In recent weeks, Russian unmanned aerial vehicles and fighter jets have violated the airspace of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Romania. And last week, unmanned drones flew over several airports in Denmark and Norway.
“We’re really behind when it comes to defending against drones,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said. To combat this, European leaders this week discussed building a drone wall to strengthen the region’s preparedness against a future Russian incursion.
Although the Kremlin has acknowledged its involvement in the Polish incident, it has disputed other nations’ claims and has denied any involvement in the airport drone sightings, including the one over Germany.
Radiation risk. Indonesia’s nuclear agency is working to determine how much territory was contaminated with radiation by a scrap metal plant in the city of Serang, according to local authorities on Friday. The Modern Cikande Industrial Estate, a large industrial zone where the scrap metal plant is located, is being treated as the epicenter of the affected area after a batch of contaminated shrimp from a local company also based there was shipped to the United States in August.
“Hopefully, by early next week, we will know the total size of the contaminated area,” said Bara Hasibuana spokesperson for the investigation. “We’re not taking this lightly. For us, this is serious.”
The estate is still functioning but is being closely monitored, with Indonesian authorities providing Washington and the International Atomic Energy Agency with regular updates. So far, officials have recorded 10 radiation hot spots, up from the initial six locations. Two have already been decontaminated. At least nine people were hospitalized after being exposed; they remain asymptomatic and are in stable condition.
What in the World?
The Taliban ordered an internet blackout and a total shutdown of mobile phone data on Tuesday. What did the regime want to prevent with this crackdown?
A. The formation of anti-Taliban resistance groups
B. The spread of conspiracies about Taliban leaders
C. Immoral activities
D. Sales of illegal drugs and weapons over the dark web
Odds and Ends
For the first time in 1,400 years, the Church of England chose a woman to be the next archbishop of Canterbury. Sarah Mullally, the 63-year-old bishop of London, was named the ceremonial head of the Anglican faith on Friday. But her appointment has sparked controversy among more conservative members in Africa, who have criticized Mullally’s record of blessing same-sex couples. Many of these members also oppose women holding high-ranking roles. Mullally maintains that her focus will be on tackling sexual abuse scandals in the church and fostering “a culture of safety and well-being for all.”
And the Answer Is…
C. Immoral activities
The announcement follows the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over their well-documented persecution of women and girls as well as LGBTQ individuals, which Lisa Davis wrote about in August.
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