Overview

• Israel’s Foreign Ministry released materials it says were seized in Gaza that link Hamas to organizing and funding the Global Sumud flotilla and to control of key assets.
• One document is a 2021 letter by Ismail Haniyeh endorsing the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians Abroad, which Israel designated a terrorist organization that year.
• A roster of PCPA operatives names Zaher Birawi and Saif (Saef) Abu Kashk, whom Israel identifies as CEO of the Spanish firm Cyber Neptune that it characterizes as a Hamas front owning dozens of flotilla ships.
• Roughly 50 vessels are at sea under Italian and Spanish naval monitoring and were reported to be about 150 miles from Gaza on Tuesday.
• Organizers maintain the mission is humanitarian and have rejected unloading in Ashkelon or Cyprus, while Israeli authorities say they will block any attempt to breach the naval blockade.