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)
TT
20

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".



Israel Says it Struck Hezbollah Targets in East Lebanon

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon. Photo: X
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon. Photo: X
TT
20

Israel Says it Struck Hezbollah Targets in East Lebanon

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon. Photo: X
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon. Photo: X

Israel's military said it was striking targets belonging to Hezbollah's Radwan force in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Tuesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and the group.

"Moments ago, Israeli Air Force fighter jets... began numerous strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Bekaa, Lebanon," it said in a statement. "The military compounds that were struck were used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization for training and exercising terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against (Israeli) troops and the State of Israel."

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that ongoing Israeli military strikes in Lebanon were a clear message to Hezbollah, which he said was plotting to rebuild raid capabilities against Israel through its Radwan Force.

Since the US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in November, Hezbollah has almost ended all its military presence along the border with Israel, which is insisting that the group disarms all over Lebanon.

The Hezbollah-Israel war left over 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction estimated at $11 billion. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed during the war.

Since the ceasefire, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon, killing about 250 people and injuring over 600. Israel is also still holding five strategic posts inside Lebanon that it refused to withdraw from earlier this year.