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Spain Blasts Israel's Interception of Gaza-bound Flotilla

Activists in orange life jackets sit aboard a Gaza-bound Sumud flotilla boat as Israeli navy soldiers sail it into the port of Ashdod, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, after it was intercepted while approaching the Gaza coast. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Activists in orange life jackets sit aboard a Gaza-bound Sumud flotilla boat as Israeli navy soldiers sail it into the port of Ashdod, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, after it was intercepted while approaching the Gaza coast. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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Spain Blasts Israel's Interception of Gaza-bound Flotilla

Activists in orange life jackets sit aboard a Gaza-bound Sumud flotilla boat as Israeli navy soldiers sail it into the port of Ashdod, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, after it was intercepted while approaching the Gaza coast. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Activists in orange life jackets sit aboard a Gaza-bound Sumud flotilla boat as Israeli navy soldiers sail it into the port of Ashdod, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, after it was intercepted while approaching the Gaza coast. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Spain on Thursday said it "energetically condemns" the seizure by Israeli forces of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla carrying Spanish nationals in international waters off Greece.

Madrid has summoned Israel's charge d'affaires in Spain to convey its protest over the detention of the Global Sumud Flotilla vessels, the foreign ministry added in a statement.

Spanish diplomatic staff in Israel are in contact with the organizers of the flotilla and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has spoken with his counterparts who also have nationals on board, the statement said.

The latest flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel's blockade on Gaza set sail in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain and Syracuse in Italy.

Organizers announced early on Thursday that their boats had been surrounded by Israeli military ships while off the coast of Crete.

Ties between Israel and Spain have nosedived since the Gaza war sparked by the October 2023 Hamas cross-border attacks, with Israel angered by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's unrelenting criticism of its bombardment of the Palestinian territory.

Spain's Socialist leader has also opposed the US-Israeli war with Iran, drawing a sharp Israeli reaction.

Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu barred Madrid from joining the work of a US-led centre to stabilize post-war Gaza, accusing Spain of waging a diplomatic campaign against Israel. Both countries have withdrawn their ambassadors.

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UN Rights Chief Wants Next Israeli Govt to 'Change Course Massively'

n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)
n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)
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UN Rights Chief Wants Next Israeli Govt to 'Change Course Massively'

n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)
n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)

UN rights chief Volker Turk said Wednesday he hopes a new Israeli government will "change course massively" and respect international law, as the country's political future hung in the balance after hard-fought elections.

"The message is: don't continue the current course of warfare where you think you are above international law, because I think that's what we have frankly seen in the current environment," he told reporters in New York.

"Israel has its obligations under international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and they need to respect them, and I hope that the next government will do precisely that and change course massively," the Austrian diplomat added.

Earlier this week, Turk warned that Israel's military occupation in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, launched after a deadly attack by Palestinian gunmen, raised serious concerns of "ethnic cleansing."

"Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law," he said in a statement Monday.

With more than 85 percent of ballots counted in Israel's election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc was slightly ahead but still short of a majority, making Israeli Arab parties possible kingmakers.

The Tuesday vote was the first election since the October 7, 2023 attack that led Israel to wage war in Gaza and across the region.

World

Israel Defense Minister Slams Eisenkot’s Call for Military to Resist PM Pressure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz attend a graduation ceremony of new Israeli army officers at a base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 21, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz attend a graduation ceremony of new Israeli army officers at a base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 21, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israel Defense Minister Slams Eisenkot’s Call for Military to Resist PM Pressure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz attend a graduation ceremony of new Israeli army officers at a base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 21, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz attend a graduation ceremony of new Israeli army officers at a base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 21, 2026. (Reuters)

Israel's defense minister on Wednesday denounced opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot for urging the military to resist post-election pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has threatened new strikes on Iran.

"His call to senior military officials not to obey the directives of the prime minister or me or of other relevant security authorities, on the grounds that 'they have his support', is an anti-democratic statement detached from reality," Israel Katz wrote on X.

Eisenkot, a former military chief, in a speech to supporters after Tuesday's election said that Netanyahu was a caretaker prime minister lacking a mandate and that the military should serve the state rather than the premier.

"Stand firm in the face of any attempt to challenge you. You have my unequivocal backing. Netanyahu, do not dare use Israel's security for your political needs," Eisenkot said.

Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened renewed war on Iran, after bombing campaigns backed by the United States last year and again this year.

Media reports, denied by Netanyahu, said that military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir pushed back immediately before the election on the prime minister's new plans on Iran.

Katz said that Eisenkot's comments were the latest in "a campaign of lies" about tensions between Netanyahu and the military over Iran.

World

Caretaker Role Could Limit Netanyahu but Not Rule Out War with Iran

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses his supporters at the election night rally after the first exit polls were announced, in Jerusalem on early October 28, 2026, during Israel's legislative elections. (AFP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses his supporters at the election night rally after the first exit polls were announced, in Jerusalem on early October 28, 2026, during Israel's legislative elections. (AFP)
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Caretaker Role Could Limit Netanyahu but Not Rule Out War with Iran

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses his supporters at the election night rally after the first exit polls were announced, in Jerusalem on early October 28, 2026, during Israel's legislative elections. (AFP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses his supporters at the election night rally after the first exit polls were announced, in Jerusalem on early October 28, 2026, during Israel's legislative elections. (AFP)

Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to face more constraints as Israel's caretaker prime minister after Tuesday's election, but experts say his government could still retain significant powers including when it comes to waging war on Iran.

Neither Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition nor an opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot is projected by Israeli media ‌to win ‌a majority in the country’s 120-seat legislature. Eisenkot has ‌acknowledged ⁠the prime minister ⁠was still in office as a caretaker but issued a warning that Netanyahu might use security for political ends.

Netanyahu's office has previously rejected accusations he is using the Iran conflict for political gain. His office did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday.

“If you look at the letter of the law, a caretaker government has the ⁠same authority, has the same powers as a regular ‌government,” said Guy Lurie, a research ‌fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, adding however that a caretaker government “has a duty ‌of restraint” and more limited discretion to act in some areas.

A ‌caretaker government faces limitations when it comes to issues such as appointments, but has leeway to act in matters where there is a public interest, analysts say.

“In general, security issues are the clearest exception to this duty of ‌restraint,” said Or Asher, a researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Tachlith Institute, noting that Israel's supreme court has ⁠previously held ⁠that a caretaker government must avoid far-reaching decisions unless they are justified by a pressing necessity.

“The Supreme Court has historically avoided intervening in decisions to go to war, and parliamentary oversight is at its thinnest in the weeks after the new Knesset convenes and before its committees are formed,” Asher said, adding that “a caretaker prime minister can legally take Israel to war, including against Iran”.

After the final tally is in, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog is expected to consult party leaders and then tap the candidate he believes has the best chance of forming a government, with the nominee then getting up to 42 days to establish a government.