Israel
JC Israel Briefing Day 612: IDF intercepts ‘freedom flotilla’
Plus, documents show Qatar funded Hamas weapons and disrupted peace plans
June 9, 2025 08:26
Plus, documents show Qatar funded Hamas weapons and disrupted peace plans
June 9, 2025 08:26This story first appeared as today’s Israel briefing newsletter. You can sign up to receive it daily here.
Israeli forces boarded a Gaza-bound protest boat carrying Greta Thunberg and several other activists early today. The interception was non-violent. The passengers were taken to Ashdod port and are expected to be deported.
The boat carried a small cargo of food and medicine. Israeli officials said the supplies would be redirected through standard crossings. The Foreign Ministry called the vessel a “selfie yacht” and accused the passengers of aiding a hostile entity. Defence Minister Israel Katz said they would be shown October 7 footage “so they understand who they were trying to help”. A photo released by the IDF showed Thunberg on an Israeli vessel eating a sandwich.
After weeks of uncertainty over whether Israel's assassination attempt was successful, Muhammad Sinwar, Hamas’s top military commander in Gaza, has been confirmed dead. The IDF said his body was recovered from a tunnel beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis. Sinwar, brother of former Gaza leader Yahya, was reportedly overseeing Hamas’s southern operations. Two other Hamas field commanders, Muhammad Shabana and Mahdi Quara, were also found dead at the site.
Sinwar was believed to have taken over command from Mohammed Deif and was directing resistance from a fortified underground network. The Khan Younis tunnel system has been repeatedly targeted by the IDF.
Hamas is leaning toward rejecting a ceasefire to preserve its rule in Gaza, Haaretz reported yesterday. A Palestinian source said the group fears collapse if it surrenders, even at the cost of further mass casualties.
Documents show Qatar covertly backed Hamas not only in the October 7 attack but also in efforts to sabotage regional peace. Files revealed by Channel 12 detail how Qatar funded weapons, tunnel infrastructure, and a political campaign to block Gulf-Israel normalisation. The campaign included disrupting Trump’s 2020 peace plan and financing a Hamas visit to Tehran after the US killing of Qassem Soleimani.
The material contradicts Prime Minister Netanyahu’s claims that Qatari funding was mostly humanitarian. The revelations come amid growing pressure from the “Qatargate” affair, which has triggered allegations against members of Netanyahu’s office over ties to Doha.
The United States is considering a $500 million funding increase for Gaza aid, routed through the new US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The group is distributing food across Rafah and central Gaza, bypassing UN agencies. Israel has promoted the initiative to guarantee basic supply lines despite UN objections.
Finally, Jerusalem synagogue linked to Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Shalom Cohen was set on fire and vandalised. Religious books were destroyed and anti-religious graffiti was sprayed on the building. No arrests have been made. Police are treating it as a targeted attack. The Shin Bet is involved. Shas called the arson “an attack on the Torah itself.”