By Harun Nasrallah
London, (The Muslim News): Six international activists remain in Israeli detention after their aid flotilla was intercepted in international waters on its way to break the blockade of Gaza, the Israeli legal centre Adalah said on Tuesday. “Six participants who were aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, unlawfully intercepted and detained on their way to Gaza amid the ongoing genocide, remain in Israeli detention,” the centre stated.
The detained activists are citizens of Norway, Morocco, and Spain. Adalah said its lawyers have submitted requests to visit them, while Israeli media reported the detention of Spanish activist Reyes Rigo Cervilla has been extended by one week. The announcement came after Israeli authorities deported more than 130 other flotilla participants through Jordan earlier in the day.
Amid the ongoing crisis, a senior Hamas official reiterated the group’s demands for a lasting ceasefire. Hamas’s Khalil al-Hayya called for “real” guarantees to ensure an end to Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
“We affirm our full readiness to reach (a deal to) end the war, withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, and release all Israeli captives – both alive and dead – in exchange for Palestinian prisoners,” al-Hayya told Egypt’s Al-Qahera News. He accused Israel of acting in bad faith, stating, “The Israeli occupation has continued killing and blocking aid, especially in northern Gaza, since we announced our approval.” He added, “Israel has never honoured its promises throughout history.”
However, Hamas said earlier today, list of Palestinian prisoners and Israel hostages to be released have been exchanged.
As the war grinds on, the United Nations warned that Israeli military operations continue to cause massive civilian casualties and destruction, with humanitarian efforts crippled by severe restrictions.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric reported that “Israeli military operations, including air strikes and shelling, continued across multiple areas, causing more civilian casualties, widespread displacement, and the destruction of critical infrastructure.” He stated that civilians “continue to bear the brunt of hostilities,” and that aid groups face “severe physical and bureaucratic obstacles” that prevent life-saving assistance from reaching those in need.
The human cost of the conflict is staggering. According to latest figures, at least 67,173 Palestinians have been killed and 169,780 wounded, with thousands more buried under rubble. On the Israeli side, the military reports 913 soldiers have been killed and 6,318 wounded in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, and Israel.
The toll on humanitarian personnel has been particularly severe. UN data indicates at least 540 aid workers, and 1,722 healthcare personnel have been killed. Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory, emphasised that “aid workers must be guaranteed safety under humanitarian and human rights law,” yet noted that Gaza has seen massive casualties among staff despite these protections.
In a grave accusation from August, UN Special Rapporteurs Tlaleng Mofokeng and Francesca Albanese said Israel is committing “medicide”— the systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system. “In addition to bearing witness to an ongoing genocide, we are also bearing witness to a ‘medicide,’ a sinister component of the intentional creation of conditions calculated to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, which constitutes an act of genocide,” the experts said.
On the ground Tuesday, violence continued. Medics and witnesses reported at least seven people killed and several others injured in fresh Israeli strikes. Incidents included the shelling of a civilian gathering in Gaza City, an airstrike south of Khan Younis, and attacks near aid distribution points. In one incident, seven people were wounded by Israeli gunfire while waiting for food in northern Rafah.
In a separate development, the Israeli army confirmed three reserve soldiers were wounded in a bomb explosion in Khan Younis. Two were seriously injured and a third sustained moderate wounds.
[Photo: Palestinian children, carrying photos of close relatives they lost, stage a protest against the ongoing Israeli attacks at al-Baraka Orphan Camp in Khan Yunis, Gaza on October 7, 2025. Photojournalist: Anas Zeyad Fteha/AA]
