Media Report 2025.06.09
Israeli minister warns Greta Thunberg to turn back as Freedom Flotilla approaches Gaza
ABC | Matthew Doran | 9 June 2025
- Israel’s defence minister has warned activist Greta Thunberg that the aid ship she is travelling on towards the Gaza Strip should turn around, saying the IDF will take all necessary steps to stop the ship arriving in the war-ravaged territory.
- Ms Thunberg has replied to the defence minister’s comments, saying it’s important the world keeps its focus on the blockade and the Palestinian people.
- The Madleen, a UK-flagged sailing ship chartered by activist group Freedom Flotilla, has reported its GPS trackers being scrambled while off the coast of Egypt, indicating possible preparations for an interception.
Israel’s defence minister has issued a personal warning to campaigner Greta Thunberg, saying the Gaza-bound aid ship she is currently sailing on should immediately turn around or face the Israeli military.
The Freedom Flotilla, an organisation seeking to break Israel’s aid blockade of Gaza, is sailing the Madleen to the war-ravaged territory, carrying food and other supplies for the Palestinian population.
The vessel is currently in the Mediterranean Sea off the Egyptian coast, but Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday it should travel no further.
“I have instructed the IDF to act to prevent the Madleen hate flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza, and to take whatever measures are necessary to that end,” Mr Katz posted on social media platform X, along with a photo flanked by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officials.
“To the antisemitic Greta [Thunberg] and her fellow Hamas propaganda spokespeople, I say clearly: you should turn back — because you will not reach Gaza.
“Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or assist terrorist organisations — at sea, in the air, and on land.”
Ms Thunberg, who has rejected accusations she is antisemitic, replied soon after Mr Katz made his comments.
“As we are sailing closer to Gaza with Israel saying they will not allow the boat to arrive with humanitarian aid (which would be a crime by them), it’s very important to keep in mind that this mission is not about us nor the boat,” she posted on Instagram.
“This is about the genocide, blockade and systematic oppression of Palestinians.
“People in Gaza don’t need anyone to come and save them, they need us to amplify and support their struggle for justice, that we end our complicity, put pressure and cut ties with those committing human rights violations. Keep all eyes on deck but above all, all eyes on Palestine and all oppressed people.”
Last month, another ship chartered by the Freedom Flotilla was attacked by drones the group said were launched by Israel.
Some of the campaigners on board the British-flagged Madleen, which set sail from Italy last week, said Israeli forces were already trying to scramble their communications, including GPS signals.
Israel has used such technology repeatedly during the course of the war in Gaza.
“We just received some very weird news that according to our tracker we are no longer 162 nautical miles from Gaza, which is where we are, but according to him we are on Jordan airport,” Brazilian activist Thiago Avila posted on Instagram.
“We know what that means, when they start jamming our communication, when they started messing with our devices, it means that they are preparing for an interception or an attack.
“And we all heard the Israeli media saying that they confirmed the unit S13 of IOF Special Forces, so they are preparing to commit a war crime, and we need to stop that.”
Israel has repeatedly rejected allegations of war crimes in its conduct relating to the war in Gaza.
Israeli media has reported that the military plans to seize the ship and take it to the port of Ashdod, arresting and deporting the crew.
In 2010, the IDF boarded a Turkish ship leading a flotilla towards Gaza, and killed 10 people.
The IDF insists it is letting aid into the strip, and says 350 trucks carrying supplies were allowed to enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing last week.
But humanitarian agencies say that is far too few deliveries to make a difference, after the total humanitarian blockade of Gaza ran for 11 weeks and severely depleted supplies.
There have also been a series of shootings at aid distribution sites run by the private Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in recent days, which Palestinian health authorities and organisations such as the International Red Cross say have killed dozens and injured hundreds more.
Another four people were killed on Sunday, according to local medics.
GHF had suspended its operations twice in response to the deteriorating security situation near its sites, but resumed work on Sunday — and insisted it continued to deliver aid without incident.
“We are continuing to adapt and improve our operations to ensure the safety of the Palestinian people we aim to serve,” GHF interim executive director John Acree said in a statement.
“Recently, we have started a women’s and children-only lane to ensure they receive aid and today we piloted a direct-to-community delivery.
“Every day, we are looking to improve our operations and safely deliver aid to those who need it most.”
Israel has accused Hamas of trying to undermine the new private aid model, alleging the militant group’s fighters were responsible for the shootings.
But it has also conceded firing some shots at Palestinians near the sites, and is investigating the incidents.
Witnesses have said Israeli forces were responsible for the attacks, opening fire on desperate Palestinians as they scrambled to access aid.
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Ceasefire plea as Thai hostage’s body recovered
The Age (& Sydney Morning Herald) / AP, Reuters | Sam Mednick & Mohammad Jahjouh | 9 June 2025
Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage ab ducted into the Gaza Strip during the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war, as the families of hostages still in the territory pleaded for a ceasefire to allow their relatives to come home.
Israel’s military continued its offensive on Saturday, killing at least 95 people in 24 hours, according to Gaza’s health ministry, with hospital workers saying six people were killed while trying to get aid. More than 80 people have been killed over the past two weeks in shootings near new aid hubs, where thousands of desperate Palestinians are now being directed to collect food from a controversial group backed by Israel and the United States.
Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza and Israel says more than half are dead. Hamas issued an unusual warning about one hostage, Matan Zangauker, saying Israel’s military had sur rounded the area where he was held and that any harm that came to him during a rescue attempt would be Israel’s responsibility. Israel’s military didn’t immediately comment.
Zangauker’s mother, Einav, joined other relatives rallying again in Israel on Saturday evening (yesterday AEST), calling for a ceasefire deal to bring everyone home.
“The decision to expand the [military] ground manoeuvre is at the cost of Matan’s life and the lives of all the hostages,” she told the rally in Tel Aviv.
The Thai hostage whose body was recovered on Saturday was named as Nattapong Pinta. He had come to Israel to work in agriculture. Israel’s government said he was seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed early in the war, which began on October 7, 2023. Thailand’s foreign ministry said the bodies of two other Thai citizens were yet to be retrieved. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive. Many lived on the out skirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, the first places overrun in the attack.
Forty-six Thais have been killed during the war, according to the foreign ministry.
Israel’s defence minister said Pinta’s body was retrieved from the Rafah area in southern Gaza. The army said he was seized by the Mujahideen Brigades, the small armed group that also took two Israeli American hostages, Judith Weinstein and Gad Haggai, whose bodies were also retrieved on Thursday.
Israel’s military later said it killed the head of the Mujahideen Brigades, As’ad Aby Sharaiya, in Gaza City on Saturday.
A strike in Gaza City killed six members of a family, including two children, according to the Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals. Israel’s military said the strike targeted the Mujahideen Brigades leader.
“This is the real destruction,” a man said as he carried the body of a small boy from the scene.
Four Israeli strikes hit the Muwasi area in southern Gaza between Rafah and Khan Younis. In northern Gaza, a strike hit an apartment, killing seven people including a mother and five children. Their bodies were taken to Shifa hospital. “Stand up, my love,” one weeping woman said, touching the shrouded bodies.
Israel said it was responding to Hamas’ “barbaric attacks” and dismantling its capabilities. It said it takes all feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.
Staff at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, which received the bodies of six people over the past 24 hours, said they were killed while on their way to get food aid. Much of Gaza’s population of about 2.3 million relies on aid after widespread destruction of agriculture as well as a recent Israeli blockade that experts say has taken the territory to the brink of famine.
Israel’s army has warned that the aid distribution area is an active combat zone during night-time hours. It said several suspects attempted to approach troops operating in the Tel al Sultan area overnight “in a manner that posed a threat”. The army said troops called out, then fired warning shots as the suspects advanced.
An army official who couldn’t be named in line with military procedures said the shots were f ired about a kilometre from the distribution site.
The hubs are run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial new group of mainly American contractors. Israel wants it to replace a system co-ordinated by the United Nations and aid groups, who have refused to work with GHF, citing humanitarian reasons.
A GHF spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with the group’s rules, said it didn’t feed Gaza residents on Saturday, saying Hamas threats had “made it im possible” to operate in the enclave, which the Palestinian militants denied.
Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid under the UN–led system. The UN and aid groups deny there’s significant diversion of aid to militants and say the new system allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and won’t be effective.
The UN says it has been un able to distribute much aid un der its system because of Israeli military restrictions on movements and insecurity.
Hamas-led militants killed about 1200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack on Israel and abducted 251 hostages. Most were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have res cued eight living hostages and recovered dozens of bodies.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. The offensive has destroyed large parts of Hamas-run Gaza and displaced about 90 per cent of its population.
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Condemn its leaders but not its people
The Age | Letters | 9 June 2025
Josh Szeps’ opinion piece (“My grandmother fled the Holocaust. Now it’s time for Jews to abandon Israel”, 7/6) is right on target.
But why does he suggest Jews abandon Israel, rather than that they do everything possible to help unseat the un scrupulous leader Netanyahu and his ultra right-wing extremist supporters in the government?
We do not talk of abandoning Britain or the United States when they have bad leadership (think of the invasion of Iraq on the unsubstantiated and untrue pretext that Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons). The democratic process is such that bad leaders cannot be removed, unless they fall for one or other reason, or are voted out at the next ballot.
Israelis have been protesting for almost two years about Netanyahu. Let us not demonise Israel, the only democratic nation in the region, but help it get back on the right track by every means at our disposal, just as we would with any other democratic nation that has come under poor leadership.
Ruja Varon, Malvern
Israelis are calling for a return to rule of law
Josh Szeps lays out a historical background to the Israel Arab conflict, concluding we Jews should abandon Israel – a conclusion born of pain and shame, but not born out by any logic.
There are no excuses for the excesses of the terrible war waged by the Israeli government. But then, name me a war that wasn’t ugly, that didn’t kill innocents, that didn’t have a leader justifying the death and destruction.
How many governments had leaders who commanded the state to act in outrageous, immoral ways? Do you hear the citizens of those states, or their diaspora, calling for dissolution or abandonment of their nation? What they are not doing is abandoning their home state. Israelis and large swathes of the Jewish diaspora are out in the streets, braving government sanctioned repression, fighting for a different, more caring, responsive government, for a return to democratic processes and the rule of law.
I fail to see how Szeps leaps from condemnation of a government’s actions to “cancelling” a state and its people.
Leon Orbach, Elsternwick
We can no longer rationalise the irrational
Josh Szeps names what so many can no longer deny: the Israel we were taught to love does not exist. What exists is a regime of apartheid and occupation, sustained by brutality and shielded by nostalgia.
For decades, supporters of Israel have been asked to rationalise the irrational—to excuse massacres as “self-defence,” to rebrand settlements as “security,” to frame domination as survival. But the scale of violence now unfolding in Gaza has shattered those illusions.
This is not the tragic drift of a noble state gone astray. It is the logical outcome of a state built on ethnic supremacy, territorial ambition, and the refusal to see Palestinians as equals.
Szeps is not alone. Around the world, many Jews—long de fenders of Israel’s legitimacy— are now asking what that loyalty has demanded of them. Silence? Complicity? The sacrifice of principle?
There comes a time when what you were told to defend no longer resembles what you believe in. That moment, for many, is now.
Fernanda Trecenti, Fitzroy
Israelis are responsible for those they vote to power
In saying “it’s time for Jews to abandon Israel”, Josh Szeps does not make it clear whether he is referring to the current Netanyahu government, or the nation as a whole.
Blaming the Netanyahu government for the devastation in Gaza, and not the Israeli people more broadly, is a “safe” response because it reduces accusations of antisemitism.
However, Netanyahu is now Israel’s longest serving prime minister. He has been elected to the Knesset on numerous occasions since 1988.
Israel is not a dictatorship where the people are powerless. Netanyahu has been given his power by Israeli voters and they must bear the ultimate responsibility for their leader and his actions.
Rod Wise, Surrey Hill
Unite against terror
Josh Szeps’ opinion piece is very naive. Israel is the only place on earth where simply being Jewish will not get you killed. Many Jews in 1930s Germany thought that they were “good” Germans and nothing would ever happen to them. Unfortunately, they found out the truth too late.
Whatever Szeps’ opinion on the current Israeli government, Netanyahu and his administration are not the same as Israel. Most Kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope who were victims of the October 7, 2023 massacre were leftie “peaceniks”. Is he suggesting that they were not also Zionists?
One of this article’s biggest problems is his conclusion. When a friend of mine is in trouble or doing the wrong thing, I don’t abandon them.
Now is not the time for Jews to abandon Israel, it is the time to unite against Islamic Jihad and imported terror from Iran. Once Israel is not under constant terror attack and the war is over, hopefully a new government will again go to the negotiating table over a two-state solution. We will see whether there is a Palestinian partner for peace this time.
Michael Fox, Bentleigh
A magic realist solution
Josh Szeps’ polemic reads like an extended non sequitur. All possible takes on the Israel Palestinian conflict are canvassed with blame being equally apportioned by this contrarian, including damning references to the brutality of Hamas and the perfidy of Iran and its proxies and the historic bad faith of Egypt and Jordan, for example, alongside a grim catalogue of Israel’s disproportionate re venge calculus.
Bizarrely, the writer then concludes peremptorily that his mishmash of Middle Eastern historic and current horrors can only be alleviated by the abandonment of Israel, the only functioning, albeit flawed, democracy in the region.
As an exercise in magic realism, his piece reads well. As a contribution to resolving the insidious complexity of a fraught geo-political impasse, it is not helpful.
Jon McMillan, Mount Eliza
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Hamas alone has the power to bring Gaza lasting peace
Sydney Morning Herald | Letters | 9 June 2025
Correspondent Tom Knowles says Donald Trump can end the war in Gaza by stopping the supply of weapons to Israel (Letters, June 7), but that’s not true. Even if he did that, and even if Israel did stop fighting as a result (which is not guaranteed), it would only temporarily halt the conflict. Hamas has been clear about its intention to keep attacking Israel “again and again”, so there is no doubt it would resume the war as soon as it felt ready and able if there was a ceasefire now. The people who can actually end the war are the leaders of Hamas. They just need to accept the Israeli offer of a safe exile from Gaza if they lay down their weapons and release the hostages. Then aid flows and the reconstruction of Gaza can be carried out safely.
Athol Morris, Forde (ACT)
Josh Szeps presents an impassioned plea for an end to the war in Gaza, calling it “annihilation” and saying “the claim this is a just war, being prudently prosecuted, is, at this stage, laughable”. Szeps maintains “for thousands of years, Jews have preached fairness, resilience, reason, pacifism.” These ideals are surely at odds with the continuing violation of UN resolutions by Israel building illegal settlements in the West Bank, displacing Palestinians. If the leaders of the State of Israel still cling to the ancient myth of a god-given “promised land”, a two-state solution and peaceful co-existence is improbable.
Ian Ferrier, Paddington
Richard Sergi writes “Is there any legitimate reason why there is space in the world for a Jewish state but not for a Palestinian state?” (Letters, June 7). The answer is yes. Because every space for Palestinian self-governance, from Hamas ruling Gaza to former PLO leader Yasser Arafat ruling the West Bank, has been turned into a murderous attempt to destroy a state (Israel) rather than an attempt to build a Palestinian one. We well remember the 140 suicide bombings of the second intifada, well before the atrocities of October 7. Many were orchestrated by Marwan Barghouti, whom Szeps lauded as a moderate who should be released from Israeli jail (“It’s time for Jews to abandon Israel”, June 6). There should be a Palestinian state, but only when it is used for peaceful co-existence, not as a tool for continued terrorism and destruction.
Anthony Nassif, Caringbah
Szeps’ article briefly describes major events in Israel’s modern history, lists examples of the ignorant attitudes of many anti-Zionists and touches on the rampant global antisemitism experienced by Jews since the October 7 attack on Israel. The article illustrates some harsh realities of today’s Israel, or to use Szeps’ term, “actual existing Israel”. Few Jews consider the Israeli state to be f lawless and many struggle with the conflicts in Gaza and the West Bank. But Szeps falls into the same negative trap as other critics. He offers no solution other than abandonment and forgets what always happens to Jews when they do not have their own state. Why does no one ask Russians to give up their homeland because of Vladimir Putin’s policies? Are Americans advised to disown their country because of Donald Trump’s actions? Why are Jews the only people in the world being told to abandon their own state?
Judy Lovas, Northbridge
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US presses Burke on Israeli influencer ban
The Australian | Mohammad Alfares | 9 June 2025
The Albanese government is facing diplomatic pressure from Washington after US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee personally appealed to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to overturn a visa cancellation of Israeli-American tech advocate Hillel Fuld.
The rare intervention came hours after The Australian revealed how the Department of Home Affairs quietly cancelled Mr Fuld’s travel visa and accused him of using social media to deny “documented atrocities” in Gaza, promote Islamophobic views and spread inflammatory content that could incite division amid heightened community tensions.
In a lengthy email sent directly to Mr Burke, Mr Huckabee described Mr Fuld as a “highly respected” dual US-Israeli citizen who poses “no threat of any kind” to Australia and urged the minister to allow his visit for “the sake of the very important charity event” organised by Magen David Adom Australia.
“Mr Fuld is highly respected member in his community and well known in Israel. While he holds strong views against terrorism and the kind of massacre that occurred on October 7, he would pose no threat to the people of Australia by his actions or words,” Mr Huckabee, governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007, wrote.
“I fully respect the decision to grant the visa is solely in your hands and you have a sovereign right to make the decision to deny entry to someone you consider a threat to national security (but) I do not feel Mr Fuld poses any threat of any kind. I would respectfully request … you would be willing to review his visa application and grant the opportunity to make his brief visit for the sake of the very important charity event for the humanitarian emergency medical service organisation.”
The cancellation has sparked outrage among Jewish groups and prompted criticism from Coalition home affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie, who demanded answers from the Albanese government over what he described as a troubling precedent. In a statement to The Australian, Mr Burke said the country did not want to import “hatred”.
“Australians have a strong view that we don’t want hatred from overseas brought here,” he said. “This power has been used repeatedly over many years by ministers. It is currently being tested in the High Court in the Candace Owens matter. Last term, there was bipartisan support for the use of this power. If that is no longer the case, Mr Hastie should say so.”
It’s understood Mr Fuld insists on attending the scheduled events virtually if the visa decision is upheld.
Mr Hastie questioned whether controversial political opinions were now considered “a risk to the health, safety and good order to the Australian community” as concluded by the Home Affairs Minister.
“The opposition wants to see this power applied fairly and consistently,” he said. “Now that Mr Burke has established a tougher standard for issuing visas based on political opinion, we will hold him to it – especially when it applies to current visa holders stoking ancient hatreds in Australia.
“To be clear, we will not let Mr Burke pick favourites in relation to this conflict.”
Goldstein MP Tim Wilson also wrote to Mr Burke seeking clarification of any violations to commonwealth or state laws that justified denying Mr Fuld a visa. “It seems denying him a visa is less to do with the substance of his content and more to do with the cause he advocates for,” he wrote.
Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler said his organisation was also in direct contact with the federal government and had urged them to review their decision as a matter of urgency. “The decision to cancel Hillel Fuld’s visa just days before he was due to speak is difficult to reconcile with the actual purpose of his visit, which is to speak about entrepreneurship and help raise money for emergency medical services in Israel that treat everyone, regardless of faith or background,” Mr Leibler said.
“Whatever one’s opinion is of his online commentary, there is no plausible basis to suggest he would be inciting division by supporting a humanitarian cause.”
The Australian can also reveal that the department of Home Affairs made the decision to review Mr Fuld’s visa after receiving a number of appeals from pro-Palestinian activists. The Department of Foreign Affairs also received several appeals by activists to cancel his visa.
In one email to Foreign Minister Penny Wong, an activist wrote that Mr Fuld’s record of spreading “hate speech” and “historic revisionism” was not only “abhorrent” but dangerous.
“His conduct poses a serious threat to Australia’s social cohesion, racial harmony, and public interest,” the email stated.
Since 2013, more than 2490 people have been cancelled using section 116 of the Migration Act.
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Activists say drones monitoring aid ship
The Australian | Menna Farouk | 9 June 2025
An aid ship with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, is nearing Gaza, having reached the Egyptian coast, organisers said Saturday.
The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Sicily last week with a cargo of relief supplies “to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza”.
“We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast,” German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP. “We are all good.”
Ms Acar said the ship is now near Egypt’s Alexandria coast and expects to reach Gaza by Monday morning (AEST). “We’re about 288 miles away, which means by Sunday evening we will likely be near Gaza’s territorial waters,” she said.
The ship’s crew nonetheless reported a series of drone sightings during the voyage.
According to a video posted by the coalition on its social media platforms, a Hellenic Coast Guard Heron drone flew over the Madleen on Tuesday evening.
Hours later, two other drones – believed to be operated by EU border agency Frontex – approached the vessel.
Activists said the crew remains safe but believes the drone surveillance was intended to intimidate them.
“We are fully aware of the potential consequences,” Ms Acar said. She added that the Madleen is sailing under a UK flag and approaching Gaza’s territorial waters, which she described as “occupied by Israel”.
“If Israel attacks us, it would be yet another war crime. We would not be on this mission if we did not believe we could reach Gaza,” she said.
In London, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza – a member organisation of the flotilla coalition – said it remains in contact with international legal and human rights bodies to ensure the safety of those on board.
It warned any interception would be “a blatant violation of international humanitarian law”.
European parliament member Rima Hassan, who is on board the boat, urged governments to “guarantee safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla”. She also said more than 200 European politicians have signed an open letter to Israel calling for the Madleen to be allowed to reach Gaza and for the “immediate entry of its humanitarian cargo”.
In a statement on Friday, Amnesty International described the voyage as an “important solidarity initiative” and said there was “no justification” for obstructing humanitarian aid amid what it called “one of the worst man-made humanitarian disasters in the world”.
Aboard the boat are nationals of Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands.
In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported coming under drone attack while en route to Gaza, prompting Cyprus and Malta to send rescue vessels in response to its distress call. There were no reports of casualties.
Israel had enforced a naval blockade on Gaza for years before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the war in the Palestinian territory.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition was founded in 2010 to oppose this blockade and deliver humanitarian aid. Alongside the flotilla, the Global March to Gaza – another international initiative aiming to draw attention to the blockade – is preparing a co-ordinated campaign.
The two groups have formed a joint committee to synchronise their efforts. The Global March to Gaza plans to gather in Cairo on June 12 before travelling by bus a day later to Al-Arish, near Egypt’s border with Gaza.
From there, more than 2700 participants from more than 50 countries will walk to the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, camping there for a few days before returning to Cairo on June 19, organisers told AFP.
Israel has faced growing global condemnation over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the UN has warned that the entire population of more than two million is at risk of famine.
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Israel recovers body of Thai hostage from Gaza
The Australian | 9 June 2025
Bangkok: Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday (AEST) said it was “deeply saddened” by the death of a Thai hostage in Gaza whose body was retrieved by Israeli forces.
Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said in a video statement the ministry “is deeply saddened to announce that today, the Royal Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv was informed by a representative of the Israeli government that Mr Nattapong Pinta, the last Thai hostage, has been confirmed dead.”
An Israeli military statement, which gave his name as Natthapong Pinta, said on Saturday (local time) its forces retrieved his body from the Rafah area of southern Gaza.
It said he was taken alive as a hostage during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and “was murdered while in captivity”.
The Israeli military statement blamed the Mujahideen Brigades, an armed group close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad.
Mr Nikorndej said Nattapong was one of three Thais held hostage in Gaza. The other two were confirmed dead in 2024 but Israel had “not yet been able to retrieve their corpses”. He said the Thai embassy in Tel Aviv had contacted Nattapong’s family to inform them and would work with the Israeli side to return his body to Thailand as soon as possible.
Mr Nikorndej said the ministry “expresses its deepest condolences to Nattapong’s family”.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the hostage’s body was “returned to Israel” in “a special operation” in the Rafah area.
“Nattapong came to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture, out of a desire to build a better future for himself and his family,” Mr Katz said. He was “brutally murdered in captivity by the terrorist organisation Mujahideen Brigades”, he said.
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One-sided reports
The Australian | Letters (1) | 9 June 2025
Chris Kenny is absolutely right to highlight the one-sided reports by Western media, including our own ABC, on the Gaza war and the food aid distribution issue.
Most recent coverage on the aid question simply ignores the fact there’s a war going on between Hamas and Israel (“Hamas agenda on Israel’s war in Gaza is influencing Western media”, 7-8/6).
Disinformation is Hamas’s greatest weapon. Many of the media reports rely on the Gazan health ministry that’s run by Hamas. But we’re not told that.
We’re not informed either that Hamas has made public threats against any Gazans seeking aid from the new distribution system or that there’s a distinct possibility that civilians being shot at these points were attacked by Hamas gunmen. Hamas has manipulated many journalists into covering the Gazan aid issue without even once mentioning Hamas. If the new aid model works, Hamas loses control of the Gazan aid that it has used for its own forces or sold to Gazans to finance its revival.
Anthony Bergin, Reid, ACT
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Double standards
The Australian | Letters (2) | 9 June 2025
Nick Dyrenfurth condemns the growing expectation that Jews publicly express shame for Israel’s actions, particularly in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks.
I’ve sadly faced similar belligerent pressure from a longstanding friend. The truth is, anti-Semitism never really went away. It just has found new ways to show itself. People exaggerate Israel’s power, then hold Jews everywhere responsible as if we’re all part of some global conspiracy.
It’s the same old hate, just wearing a different mask.
John Kempler, Rose Bay, NSW
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Minister is an absolute Burke on visa rules
Daily Telegraph (Herald-Sun, Courier-Mail) | Andrew Bolt | 9 June 2025
The Albanese government is an enemy of free speech, now banning an American Jew who rejects Hamas propaganda.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has stopped technology expert Hillel Fuld from coming here to raise money for Magen David Adom, Israel’s Red Cross.
Burke, whose seat of Watson is 35 per cent Muslim, accused Fuld of “Islamophobic rhetoric” and “denying documented atrocities” in social media posts – only two of which Burke quotes.
These posts, Burke claims, were “received by members of the Islamic community as inflammatory”, and were likely to “increase hatred” of Muslims.
In short: Muslims don’t like this Jew saying things, so his visa is cancelled. Just as Burke banned former Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.
Worse, nowhere in the reasons Burke gives for banning Fuld does he prove Fuld’s “Islamophobic” posts false.
The first post is from March last year, commenting on what Burke claims were “reports by many reliable news sources that at least 112 Palestinians had been killed and more than 750 wounded after Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds waiting for food aid”.
Fuld wrote: “‘There was no massacre of Palestinians in Gaza today … Palestinians trampled each other as they fought for the aid that the IDF sent in, knowing that Hamas was going to steal it … In parallel, a Palestinian mob tried to attack IDF forces who proceeded to shoot warning shots in the air and when the mob didn’t stop, the IDF fired at their legs.”
Burke’s account is essentially based on claims of the Hamas terrorist group which runs Gaza, even though Hamas repeatedly lies to damn Israel.
Fuld’s account is based on claims of the Israel Defence Force.
Who’s telling the truth is unclear, but Burke clearly prefers to trust Hamas.
Yet Israel in its defence released video showing Palestinians swarming the aid trucks, and CNN showed Israeli tracers in the pre-dawn confrontation being fired into the air.
I don’t doubt Israeli troops shot Palestinians, but how the tragedy unfolded and how many were killed remains highly contested, with the BBC reporting that “al-Awda hospital, where many of the dead and injured were taken”, said it received 142 people with bullet injuries and around 34 injured “from the stampede”.
That’s a long way short of Burke’s claim of Israelis killing 112 Palestinians and wounding about 750, yet he’s banned Fuld for decrying Hamas “propaganda”.
Burke then quotes a post from Fuld last January, but without saying which of Fuld’s 21 points in it are wrong and “Islamophobic”.
I’ll guess. In point 1, Fuld said up to 15 per cent of the world’s Muslims were “radicalised”, so “to call the fear of Islam, Islamophobia, when phobia is an irrational fear of something, is ridiculous”.
But the data backs Fuld. A 2017 Pew Research Centre survey asked Muslims in 39 countries whether they wanted Islamic sharia law. Responses varied from a 99 per cent “yes” in Afghanistan to 8 per cent in Azerbaijan.
Last year, a JL Partners poll found 29 per cent of British Muslims had a “very positive” or “somewhat positive” view of Hamas.
In 2013, France’s leading pollster found 19 per cent of French Muslims backed Hamas.
In point six, Fuld argues that “differentiating between Gazans and Hamas is at best inaccurate”, given “Gazans elected Hamas, and a vast majority of them support October 7”.
He says “at the very least, they are comparable to the Germans in Nazi Germany”, and “no one debated the legitimacy of World War II by saying that there were innocent Germans in Germany”.
Confronting, yes. But in May, the reputable Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research found that despite Israel’s massive retaliation eroding support for Hamas, 57 per cent still backed it, and 50 per cent thought the October 7 was a good idea.
In point 10, Fuld mourned that “tragically, it is not safe to assume that all children in Gaza are innocent”, given “children are taught from age zero that murdering a Jew is the highest accomplishment in life, and so often times, Arab terror … is carried out by children”.
Again, I’ve seen videos over two decades of Palestinian children indeed telling interviewers “we have been taught that the Jews kill our children” and “stabbing and trampling Jews brings respect to the Palestinians”. The terrorist who fatally stabbed Fuld’s own brother was just 17.
Yes, Fuld’s opinions could upset Muslims. But how dare Labor stop Australians from hearing both sides of this debate, by banning a speaker with facts on his side?
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Six deaths in aid chaos
Daily Telegraph (Herald-Sun, Courier-Mail, Mercury) | 9 June 2025
GAZA CITY: Gaza’s Hamas authorities have accused Israel of killing six people near a US-backed aid distribution centre as the delivery of desperately needed supplies continues to be chaotic.
But the Israeli military said it had fired “warning shots” at individuals it said were “advancing in a way that endangered the troops”.
The shooting deaths were the latest reported near the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) aid centre in the southern district of Rafah, and came after it resumed distributions following a brief suspension after similar deaths last week.
Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the Hamas-run civil defence agency, told AFP that “six people were killed and several others wounded by the forces of the Israeli occupation near the Al-Alam roundabout” where they had gathered to seek humanitarian aid from the distribution centre around a kilometre away on Saturday.
Witness Samir Abu Hadid said thousands of people had gathered near the roundabout.
“As soon as some people tried to advance towards the aid centre, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire from armoured vehicles stationed near the centre, firing into the air and then at civilians,” Abu Hadid said.
The GHF said in a statement it had not distributed aid on Saturday because of “direct threats” from Hamas.
Later Saturday, the Israeli army said an operation in Gaza City resulted in the killing of Asaad Abu Sharia, reportedly the head of the Mujahideen Brigades.
The armed group is close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad that Israel has also accused over deaths of hostages seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the border. The army said Sharia had taken part in the bloody attack on Nir Oz when Hamas launched its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
His death came on the day Israeli forces retrieved the body of one of the hostages taken from Nir Oz, Thai man Nattapong Pinta.
“Nattapong Pinta was abducted alive by terrorists … from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, and was murdered while in captivity,” the military said, blaming the Mujahideen Brigades.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said Mr Pinta’s body was returned to Israel in “a special operation” in the Rafah area.
“Nattapong came to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture, out of a desire to build a better future for himself and his family,” Katz said.
He was “brutally murdered in captivity by the terrorist organisation Mujahideen Brigades.”
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Israeli army shows tunnel under Gaza Strip hospital
Canberra Times / AAP | 9 June 2025
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8986895/israeli-army-shows-tunnel-under-gaza-strip-hospital/
The Israeli army says it has retrieved the body of Hamas military chief Mohammed al-Sinwar in an underground tunnel beneath a hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip, following a targeted operation last month.
Another senior Hamas leader, Mohammad Shabana, commander of the Rafah Brigade, was also found dead at the scene along with a number of other militants, who are still being identified, IDF spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said.
Israeli forces gave a small group of foreign reporters a tour of the tunnel that had been uncovered beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis, which Defrin said was a major command and control compound for Hamas.
“This is another example of the cynical use by Hamas, using civilians as human shields, using civilian infrastructure, hospitals again and again,” said Defrin.
“We found underneath the hospital, right under the emergency room, a compound of a few rooms. In one of them we found, we killed Mohammed Sinwar,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sinwar’s death last month but Defrin said they now had his DNA which proved beyond doubt it was him.
Hamas has not commented on reports of the death of either Sinwar or Shabana.
Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Palestinian militant group’s deceased leader and mastermind of the October 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1200 people according to Israeli tallies, and which triggered the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Shabana was one of Hamas’ most senior and battle-hardened commanders in the south of the enclave.
He played a central role in constructing the network of tunnels under the southern city of Rafah, which were used for ambushes and cross-border raids.
The drive to Khan Younis in Israeli military vehicles showed widespread devastation, with countless buildings lying in ruins and piles of rubble collected at the roadside.
The Israeli military has raided or besieged numerous hospitals during the war, alleging that Hamas uses them to conceal fighters and orchestrate operations – a charge Hamas has repeatedly denied.
While Israel has presented evidence in certain cases, some of its assertions remain unverified.
Defrin said the army had carefully planned the strike near the European Hospital in order not to damage it.
A large trench dug in front of the emergency room entrance led down to a hole in the claustrophobic concrete tunnel, that was used as a hideaway by Hamas fighters, the army said.
During the search of the site, Israeli forces recovered weapon stockpiles, ammunition, cash and documents that are now being reviewed for intelligence value.
“We will dismantle Hamas because we cannot live with this terror organisation right in our backyard, right across our border,” Defrin said.
More than 54,000 Palestinians have died during the ongoing Israeli assault, according to Gaza health authorities. The U.N. has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine.
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Israel vows to block aid boat from reaching Gaza Strip
Canberra Times | 9 June 2025
Israel’s government has vowed to prevent an aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists from reaching the Gaza Strip.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Israel would not allow anyone to break its naval blockade of the Palestinian territory, which he said was aimed at preventing Hamas from importing arms.
“To the anti-Semitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propagandists – I will say this clearly: you should turn back, because you will not make it to Gaza,” he said in a statement.
Thunberg, a climate campaigner, is among 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
The vessel departed Sicily last Sunday on a mission that aims to break the sea blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian aid, while raising awareness over the growing humanitarian crisis 20 months into the Israel-Hamas war.
The activists had said they planned to reach the Gaza Strip’s territorial waters as early as Sunday.
Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian activist on board the boat, posted a video on social media on Sunday afternoon saying someone appeared to be jamming their tracking and communication devices about 160 nautical miles from the strip.
Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, is among the others onboard.
She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
After a two-and-a-half month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into the Gaza Strip last month, but humanitarian workers have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israeli forces ends their military offensive.
An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach the Gaza Strip by sea failed after another of the group’s vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta.
The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.
Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.
Critics of the blockade say it amounts to collective punishment of the territory’s roughly two million Palestinians.
Israel sealed the Gaza Strip off from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 but later relented under US pressure.
In early March, shortly before Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas, the country again blocked all imports including food, fuel and medicine.
Hamas-led militants killed about 1200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages, more than half of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up most of the dead.
It does not say whether those killed are civilians or combatants.
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IDF ordered to stop Gaza-bound aid ship carrying Greta Thunberg
Israeli defence minister tells military to ‘take all necessary measures’ to block humanitarian flotilla
The Guardian | Lorenzo Tondo | 9 June 2025
The Israeli defence minister has threatened to “take all necessary measures” to prevent a humanitarian ship carrying climate campaigner Greta Thunberg from reaching Gaza.
The Madleen, a boat operated by the activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), says it is attempting to reach the shores of the territory to bring in a symbolic amount of aid and raise international awareness of the continuing humanitarian crisis.
But on Sunday, Israel Katz ordered the Israeli military to stop the ship from getting anywhere near Gaza.
“I have instructed the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] to act so that the hate flotilla … does not reach the shores of Gaza – and to take all necessary measures to that end,” Katz said in a statement.
“To the antisemitic Greta [Thunberg] and her friends who echo Hamas propaganda, I say clearly: You’d better turn back – because you will not reach Gaza. Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or to assist terrorist organisations – by sea, by air, and by land.”
Thunberg, who has said she is taking part in the mission “because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity”, has rejected previous Israeli accusations of antisemitism.
On board the vessel alongside her are 10 other activists from Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands. They include Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament of Palestinian descent who has been barred from entering Israel.
Responding to Katz on Sunday, they said: “The statement by Israel’s defence minister is yet another example of Israel threatening the unlawful use of force against civilians – and attempting to justify that violence with smears.
“We will not be intimidated,” it added. “The world is watching.”
As of Sunday evening, the Madleen, which left the port of Catania in Sicily, southern Italy, on 1 June, was approximately 160 nautical miles from Gaza.
“We are monitoring the situation closely,” the FFC said. “We remain calm, resolute, and prepared for the possibility of an Israeli attack. We reiterate our call to world governments to demand that Israel stand down. Israel has no right to obstruct our effort to reach Gaza.”
Israel’s blockade on Gaza has been in place for years, even before the Israel-Hamas war that erupted in October 2023 after the Hamas attacks on Israel in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.
It was slightly eased in mid-May after nearly three months, allowing a limited amount of humanitarian aid into the territory. But malnutrition is spreading, medics and aid workers have warned, with UN officials describing Gaza as “the hungriest place on Earth”.
Katz said on Sunday that the blockade was essential to Israel’s national security as it seeks to destroy Hamas. “The State of Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade on Gaza, whose primary purpose is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,” he said.
More than 54,000 Palestinians have died during Israel’s assault, according to Gaza health authorities, with much of the territory reduced to rubble.
Israel’s plan to concentrate food delivery in hubs guarded by private security contractors and the Israeli military and provided by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has proved to be chaotic and dangerous, critics say.
At least four people were killed and others wounded by Israeli fire on Sunday, about a kilometre from a food distribution point in Gaza, Palestinian medics and officials said. The deaths bring the number of people who have been killed while trying to find food in Gaza since 27 May, when GHF became responsible for civilian food provision, to 110. More than 1,000 have been injured.
Israel said it was expecting to intercept the flotilla in the next 48 hours.
Before leaving Sicily on board the Madleen, which is carrying a symbolic amount of rice and infant formula, Thunberg told reporters: “We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying. Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And, no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the livestreamed genocide.”
Israel has denied any accusations of genocide.
Greta Thunberg says she took part in the mission ‘because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity’. Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian
Thunberg, who became an internationally famous climate activist after organising protests in her native Sweden, had been due to board a previous Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, last month. It was bombed by drones and disabled while in international waters off Malta as it headed towards the Palestinian territory.
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At least four killed by Israeli fire near Gaza food point, officials say
Shooting happened about a kilometre from distribution site in Rafah run by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
The Guardian / AP, Reuters | Lorenzo Tondo | 9 June 2025
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/08/shooting-rafah-gaza-food-distribution-point-ghf
At least four people have been killed and others injured by Israeli fire about a kilometre from a food distribution point in Gaza, Palestinian health officials and witnesses said, the latest casualties of a new system to provide supplies that critics say is unethical, chaotic and dangerous.
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces had opened fire on Sunday morning as people went to receive supplies from a site in Rafah run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed group.
Israel’s military said it had fired warning shots at people who had approached its forces. It acknowledged reports of injuries but did not specify how many people it believed had been affected.
Bodies were brought to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. Al-Awda hospital said it had received the body of a 42-year-old man, as well as 29 people who had been injured near another GHF distribution point.
The Reuters news agency reported that four people had been killed by the Israeli fire, while the Associated Press put the death toll at “at least” five.
The deaths bring the number of people who have been killed while trying to find food in Gaza since 27 May, when GHF became responsible for civilian food provision, to 110. More than 1,000 have been injured.
Witnesses said Sunday’s shooting in southern Gaza occurred at about 6am, when they had been told the site would open. Many had headed towards it early to try to get desperately needed food before the crowds. The military had announced on Friday that the sites would be open from 6am and that the area would be a closed military zone from 6pm until 6am.
A GHF spokesperson said there had been “no incident at or in [the] surrounding vicinity” of any distribution site.
Adham Dahman, 30, who was at Nasser hospital with a bandage on his chin, told Associated Press that a tank had fired in their direction. “We didn’t know how to escape,” he said. “This is trap for us, not aid.”
Zahed Ben Hassan, another witness, said someone next to him had been shot in the head. He said he and others had pulled the body from the scene and managed to flee to the hospital.
“They said it was a safe area from 6am until 6pm … so why did they start shooting at us?” he said. “There was light out, and they have their cameras and can clearly see us.”
Sanaa Doghmah told Reuters that her husband, Khaled, 36, was fatally shot in the head while trying to reach a distribution site in Rafah to collect food for their five children.
Khaled’s aunt, Salwah, said at his funeral: “He was going to get food for his children and himself, to make them live, feed them, because they don’t have a pinch of flour at home.”
There have been frequent shootings in the past two weeks near the new hubs, where thousands of Palestinians are being directed to collect food.
The GHF announced on Wednesday that its operations would be suspended for 24 hours after Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians, as it pressed Israel to improve civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its distribution sites.
Israeli troops killed at least 27 people and injured hundreds on Tuesday far beyond the perimeter of the distribution sites. They denied firing at civilians, but an Israel Defense Forces official admitted soldiers had fired “warning shots toward several suspects who advanced toward the troops” near the food distribution site, without specifying who the suspects were.
On 1 June, 31 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire as they went to receive food. Israel said it had fired warning shots towards several suspects who advanced towards troops.
Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies to Gaza in March, saying Hamas was seizing deliveries for its fighters, which the group denies. A global hunger monitor said in May that half a million people in the strip faced starvation. The IPC estimated that nearly 71,000 children under five were expected to be “acutely malnourished”, with 14,100 cases expected to be severe in the next 11 months.
The hubs are set up inside Israeli military zones, to which independent media have no access, and are run by GHF, a new group of mainly US contractors. Israel wants it to replace a system coordinated by the UN and international aid groups.
The UN and other humanitarian organisations have rejected the new system, saying the GHF will not be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and that it allows Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population.
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