Egyptian Source Denies Madleen Had Entered its Regional Waters 

A picture shows the aid sailboat Madleen approaching the southern port of Ashdod after being intercepted by Israeli forces on June 9, 2025. (AFP)
A picture shows the aid sailboat Madleen approaching the southern port of Ashdod after being intercepted by Israeli forces on June 9, 2025. (AFP)
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Egyptian Source Denies Madleen Had Entered its Regional Waters 

A picture shows the aid sailboat Madleen approaching the southern port of Ashdod after being intercepted by Israeli forces on June 9, 2025. (AFP)
A picture shows the aid sailboat Madleen approaching the southern port of Ashdod after being intercepted by Israeli forces on June 9, 2025. (AFP)

An Egyptian source denied on Monday claims that the Madleen Gaza-bound aid boat had sailed through Egyptian regional waters before heading to Israel.

The activist group on board the vessel departed Italy on June 1 carrying food and supplies for Gaza, whose entire population the UN has warned is at risk of famine.

Israeli forces intercepted the boat in international waters on Monday and towed it to the port of Ashdod.

The Egyptian source said the vessel had not approached the country’s regional waters, "otherwise it would have come under the protection of the Egyptian navy and awaited a decision by the country’s authorities over what to do with it."

The authorities were not contacted by anyone onboard the Madleen, it stressed.

The regional waters are protected by the military and entering them demands permission and coordination, "and this did not happen," it explained.

Moreover, Egyptian forces cannot allow the entry of the forces of another country into its waters, it added.

Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg and other activists detained aboard the Madleen have been taken to a Tel Aviv airport for deportation, Israel said Tuesday, after their vessel was intercepted by naval forces.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the activist group operating the vessel, said all 12 campaigners were "being processed and transferred into the custody of Israeli authorities".



Houthis in Yemen Say They Won’t End Support for Gaza

 Houthi supporters chant slogans during a weekly anti-US and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Houthi supporters chant slogans during a weekly anti-US and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
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Houthis in Yemen Say They Won’t End Support for Gaza

 Houthi supporters chant slogans during a weekly anti-US and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Houthi supporters chant slogans during a weekly anti-US and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)

A top leader of the Iran-backed-Houthi militias in Yemen said they will keep up their support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip until Israeli “aggression stops, and the siege is lifted.”

“Our operations in support of Gaza will not cease, no matter the sacrifices,” said Mahdi al-Mashat in a statement Wednesday.

The Houthis are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.

They have been firing long-range missiles at Israel in the months since it resumed the war in Gaza, setting off air raid sirens but generally causing few casualties. They have also been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.