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Malta offered on Sunday to repair an aid ship and send it on its way to Gaza after pro-Palestinian activists said the vessel had been hit by a drone strike.But Prime Minister Robert Abela said the Freedom Flotilla Coalition must first allow a maritime surveyor on board to inspect the “Conscience” and determine what repairs are needed.The pro-Palestinian activists had pointed the finger at Israel, which has blockaded the Gaza Strip throughout its military campaign against Hamas, for the attack.If the ship can be fixed at sea, it will be, but otherwise it will be towed under Maltese control to the Mediterranean island for repairs, paid for by Malta.”In the last few hours there was insistence that first the boat comes into Maltese waters and then the surveyor is allowed onboard,” Abela said.”Before a vessel — any vessel — is allowed to enter Maltese waters then control must be in the hands of Maltese authorities, especially when we are talking about a vessel with no flag, no insurance.”In an online press conference, members of the coalition who had been due to board the Conscience in Malta — including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg — said they had agreed to allow the inspection.”When we received this offer from the Maltese government, we consulted with all of our Flotilla Coalition committee members who are on board,” said Brazilian FFC volunteer Thiago Avila.”And their decision is that this is a good proposition from the Maltese government,” he said.”As long as they can guarantee … Conscience will not be stopped when it wants to leave on the humanitarian mission to take aid to Gaza.”- Low altitude sweeps -The activists explained the Conscience has no flag because the government of the Pacific nation of Palau had announced that they were withdrawing their registration on Friday, the day of the alleged strike.Otherwise, they insisted they had made every effort to comply with international maritime law when embarking on the mission to take aid to Palestinians in Gaza.According to the Flotilla Coalition, the Conscience was attacked in international waters as it headed for Malta on Friday, causing a fire that disabled the vessel and minor injuries to crew members.Maltese and Cypriot rescuers responded. No government has confirmed the Conscience was the victim of drones, but Cyprus’s rescue agency said it had been informed by the island’s foreign ministry of an Israeli strike.The Israeli military did not provide an immediate response when contacted by AFP.First reported by CNN, a flight tracking service showed that an Israeli C-130 military cargo plane had been in the area immediately before the incident and had made several low altitude sweeps over the area.Israel is known for conducting covert operations beyond its borders, including several during the Gaza war that it only acknowledged later.The activists said the strike appeared to target the boat’s generator.Thunberg told reporters that the incident should not distract from the focus of the boat’s mission to Gaza.”What we are doing here is to try our very best to use all the means that we have to do our part, to keep trying to break the inhumane and illegal siege on Gaza and to open up humanitarian corridors,” she said.

Sudanese paramilitaries on Sunday struck Port Sudan, the army said, in the first attack on the seat of the army-aligned government in the country’s two-year war.The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), battling the regular army since April 2023, have increased their use of drones since losing territory including much of the capital Khartoum in March.Army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said in a statement that the RSF “targeted Osman Digna Air Base, a goods warehouse and some civilian facilities in the city of Port Sudan with suicide drones”.He reported no casualties but “limited damage” in the city on the Red Sea coast.AFP images showed smoke billowing from the airport area of Port Sudan, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) from the nearest known RSF positions on the outskirts of Khartoum.Later Sunday, an AFP correspondent reported anti-aircraft missiles trying to shoot down another drone flying towards an air base west of the city.In the eastern border town of Kassala, some 500 kilometres south of Port Sudan, near Eritrea, witnesses said three drones hit the airport for the second day in a row.At dawn on Sunday, an AFP correspondent in Port Sudan said his home about 20 kilometres from the airport shook as explosions were heard.A passenger told AFP from the airport that “we were on the way to the plane when we were quickly evacuated and taken out of the terminal”.Flights to and from Port Sudan, the country’s main port of entry since the war began, were suspended until further notice, a government source told AFP.The rare attacks on the airports in Port Sudan and Kassala, both far from areas that have seen much of the fighting since April 2023, come as the RSF expanded both the scope and frequency of its drone strikes.The paramilitaries led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo are battling the regular army, headed by Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in a devastating war that has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 13 million.- Drone warfare -In the conflict’s early days, the government relocated from Khartoum to Port Sudan, which until Sunday’s attack had been spared the violence.UN agencies have also moved their offices and staff to Port Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sought refuge.The conflict has left Africa’s third largest country effectively divided.The army controls the centre, east and north, while the RSF has conquered nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur and parts of the south.Lacking the army’s fighter jets, the RSF has relied on drones, including makeshift ones, for air power.Sudan’s government has accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying the paramilitaries with advanced drones. The Gulf state has long denied reports from UN experts, US politicians and international organisations that it was providing support to the RSF.Satellite imagery analysed by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, which tracks the conflict using remote sensing data, shows six advanced drones at the RSF-controlled Nyala Airport in Darfur.In a report issued in April, it said the Chinese-made drones “may be capable of long-range surveillance and strikes”.- ‘No safe place’ -Saudi Arabia, which had previously mediated truce talks, on Sunday condemned the RSF’s attacks “on vital facilities and infrastructure in Port Sudan and Kassala”, describing them as “a threat to regional stability” and security.Sunday’s attack is the latest in a series of RSF drone attacks on military and civilian infrastructure deep in army-held territory.A retired Sudanese army general, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the attacks “serve to send a message” that “there is no safe place” for the RSF’s rivals.”Their other objective is to halt air traffic,” he said, as well as “destroying the weapons depot at the Osman Digna base, which would impact the armed forces’ supply chain”.On Saturday, a source from the army-aligned government reported the war’s first drone attack on Kassala.A drone strike on Thursday hit an army base in the southern city of Kosti, about 100 kilometres from the border with South Sudan.In late April, a drone strike on the city of Atbara, half way between Port Sudan and Khartoum, caused electricity blackouts in several areas including in Port Sudan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed a multi-phased response to Yemen’s Huthis after the rebels struck the area of Israel’s main airport, wounding six people and prompting several major airlines to suspend flights.The Israeli military confirmed that the attack, which gouged a large crater in the perimeter of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, was launched from Yemen and had struck despite “several attempts… to intercept the missile”.In a video published on Telegram, Netanyahu said Israel had “acted against” the Iran-backed rebels in the past and “will act in the future”.”It will not happen in one bang, but there will be many bangs,” the Israeli prime minister added, referring to the promised retaliation, without going into further detail. A police video showed officers standing on the edge of a deep hole in the ground with the control tower visible behind them. No damage was reported to airport infrastructure.The police reported a “missile impact” at Israel’s main international gateway.An AFP photographer said the missile hit near the parking lots of Terminal 3, the airport’s largest. The crater was just hundreds of metres (yards) from the tarmac.”You can see the area just behind us: a crater was formed here, several dozen metres wide and several dozen metres deep,” central Israel’s police chief, Yair Hezroni, said in the video.The Israel Airports Authority said: “This is the first time a missile has fallen so close to the terminal and the runways.”-‘Hit them’-Earlier, the Huthis, who say they act in support of Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza, claimed responsibility for the attack.The rebels said their forces “carried out a military operation targeting Ben Gurion airport” with a “hypersonic ballistic missile”.Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened a forceful response, saying: “Anyone who hits us, we will hit them seven times stronger.”Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad later hailed the attack on the airport.Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said it had treated at least six people with light to moderate injuries.An AFP journalist inside the airport at the time of the attack said he heard a “loud bang” at around 9:35 am (0635 GMT), adding that the “reverberation was very strong”.”Security staff immediately asked hundreds of passengers to take shelter, some in bunkers,” the AFP journalist said.”Many passengers are now waiting for their flights to take off, and others are trying to find alternative flights.”An incoming Air India flight was diverted to Abu Dhabi, an airport official told AFP.It was one of the airlines to suspend Tel Aviv flights until Tuesday along with Germany’s Lufthansa Group, which includes Austrian, Eurowings and SWISS.A passenger said the attack, which came shortly after air raid sirens sounded across parts of Israel, caused “panic”.”It is crazy to say but since October 7 we are used to this,” the 50-year-old, who did not want to be named, said referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.-‘Close call’-An airline official said: “Today was a close call”.”I have worked at the airport for several years but even I was afraid today,” they told AFP.Flights resumed after being halted briefly, with the aviation authority saying Ben Gurion was now “open and operational”.Israel’s security cabinet would meet on Sunday, a government official said, after media also reported a planned expansion of the Gaza war with call-up orders issued for tens of thousands of reserve troops.Several news outlets said the military had begun sending the orders for reservists to replace conscripts and active-duty soldiers in Israel and the occupied West Bank so they can be redeployed to Gaza.A military spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the reports but Israel’s public broadcaster said the security cabinet would meet to discuss the expanded offensive.The Huthis, who control swathes of Yemen, have launched missiles and drones targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war.Israel resumed major operations across Gaza on March 18 amid deadlock over how to proceed with a two-month ceasefire that had largely stopped the war.Sunday’s attack on Israel was the fourth the Huthis have claimed in three days.Israel has intercepted most of the Huthi missiles fired since the Gaza war started.The US military has been hammering the rebels with near-daily strikes since March 15.

A missile struck inside the perimeter of Israel’s main airport on Sunday, wounding six people, halting flights and gouging a wide crater, in an attack claimed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels.The Israeli military said “several attempts were made to intercept” the missile that was launched from Yemen, a rare Huthi attack that penetrated Israel’s air defences.An official told AFP the country’s security cabinet would convene in the evening.A police video showed officers standing on the edge of a deep hole in the ground with the control tower visible behind them. No damage was reported to airport infrastructure.The police reported a “missile impact” at Israel’s main international gateway.An AFP photographer said the missile hit near the parking lots of Terminal 3, the airport’s largest. The crater was just hundreds of metres (yards) from the tarmac.”You can see the area just behind us: a crater was formed here, several dozen metres (yards) wide and several dozen metres deep,” central Israel’s police chief, Yair Hezroni, said in the video.The Israel Airports Authority said: “This is the first time a missile has fallen so close to the terminal and the runways.”It was not immediately clear whether the impact was caused by the Yemeni missile or by an interceptor.The attack was claimed by the Huthis, who say they act in support for Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza.”The missile force of the Yemeni armed forces carried out a military operation targeting Ben Gurion airport” with a “hypersonic ballistic missile”, the rebels said, referring to their forces.Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened a forceful response, saying: “Anyone who hits us, we will hit them seven times stronger.”- ‘Take shelter’ -Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad   later hailed the attack on the airport.Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said it had treated at least six people with light to moderate injuries.An AFP journalist inside the airport at the time of the attack said he heard a “loud bang” at around 9:35 am (0635 GMT), adding the “reverberation was very strong”.”Security staff immediately asked hundreds of passengers to take shelter, some in bunkers,” the AFP journalist said.”Many passengers are now waiting for their flights to take off, and others are trying to find alternative flights.”An incoming Air India flight was diverted to Abu Dhabi, an airport official told AFP.It was one of the airlines to suspend Tel Aviv flights until May 6, along with Germany’s Lufthansa Group, which includes Austrian, Eurowings and SWISS.A passenger said the attack, which came shortly after air raid sirens sounded across parts of Israel, caused “panic”.”It is crazy to say but since October 7 we are used to this,” the 50-year-old, who did not want to be named, said referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.An airline official said: “Today was a close call”.”I have worked at the airport for several years but even I was afraid today,” they told AFP.Flights resumed after being halted briefly, with the aviation authority saying Ben Gurion was now “open and operational”.- Deadlock -Israel’s security cabinet would meet on Sunday, a government official said, after media also reported a planned expansion of the Gaza war with call-up orders issued for tens of thousands of reserve troops.Several news outlets said the military had begun sending the orders for reservists to replace conscripts and active-duty soldiers in Israel and the occupied West Bank so they can be redeployed to Gaza.A military spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the reports but Israel’s public broadcaster said the security cabinet would meet to discuss the expanded offensive.The Huthis, who control swathes of Yemen, have launched missiles and drones targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war. They say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.Israel resumed major operations across Gaza on March 18 amid deadlock over how to proceed with a two-month ceasefire that had largely stopped the war sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack.Sunday’s attack on Israel was the fourth the Huthis have claimed in three days.Israel has intercepted most of the Huthi missiles fired since the Gaza war started.In March, the Huthis threatened to resume attacks on shipping over Israel’s aid blockade on Gaza after a suspension of attacks during the truce.The US military has been hammering the rebels with near-daily strikes since March 15.

A missile landed inside the perimeter of Israel’s main airport on Sunday, wounding six people, halting flights and gouging a wide crater, in an attack claimed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels.The Israeli military said “several attempts were made to intercept” the missile that was launched from Yemen, a rare Huthi attack that penetrated Israel’s air defences.A video issued by Israel’s police force showed officers standing on the edge of a deep crater with the control tower visible in the distance behind them. No damage was reported to airport buildings or runways.The police reported a “missile impact” at Ben Gurion airport, Israel’s main international gateway.An AFP photographer said the missile hit near the parking lots of Terminal 3, the airport’s largest, with the crater less than a kilometre (0.6 miles) away from the closest tarmac.”You can see the area just behind us: a crater was formed here, several dozen metres (yards) wide and several dozen metres deep,” central Israel’s police chief, Yair Hezroni, said in the video shared by the force.It was not immediately clear whether the impact was caused by the Yemeni missile or by an interceptor.The attack was claimed by Yemen’s Huthi rebels, who say they act in support for Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza.”The missile force of the Yemeni armed forces carried out a military operation targeting Ben Gurion airport” with a “hypersonic ballistic missile”, the Huthis said in a statement, referring to their own forces.Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said it had treated at least six people with light to moderate injuries.An AFP journalist inside the airport at the time of the attack said he heard a “loud bang” at around 9:35 am (0635 GMT), adding the “reverberation was very strong”.”Security staff immediately asked hundreds of passengers to take shelter, some in bunkers,” the AFP journalist said.”Many passengers are now waiting for their flights to take off, and others are trying to find alternative flights.”An incoming Air India flight was diverted to Abu Dhabi, an airport official told AFP.A passenger said the attack, which came shortly after air raid sirens sounded across parts of the country, caused panic.”It is crazy to say but since October 7 we are used to this,” said the passenger, who did not want to be named, referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.”A missile might come at any time and life stops for some time. Today at the airport there was panic and even I was scared, because the blast was big.”- Vow to hit back -Israel’s airport authority said that “departures and arrivals have resumed” at Ben Gurion, a short while after they had been interrupted due to the missile fire.The airport “is open and operational”, the aviation authority said in a statement.Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened a forceful response, saying: “Anyone who hits us, we will hit them seven times stronger.”The Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who control swathes of Yemen, have launched missiles and drones targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.On Saturday, the Huthis claimed a third missile attack on Israel in two days.The vast majority of missiles fired by the Huthis since the start of the Gaza war have been intercepted by Israeli air defences.The Yemeni rebels had paused their attacks during a recent two-month ceasefire in the Gaza war.But in March, they threatened to resume attacks on international shipping over Israel’s aid blockade on the Gaza Strip.The move triggered a response from the US military, which began hammering the rebels with near-daily air strikes starting March 15 in a bid to keep them from threatening shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.US strikes on the rebels began under former president Joe Biden, but intensified under his successor Donald Trump.Since March, the United States says it has struck more than 1,000 targets in Yemen.

British police on Sunday said eight people, including seven Iranian nationals, were arrested in two separate counterterrorism probes.In one operation, five men — four of them Iranian — were arrested on suspicion of “preparation of a terrorist act”, London’s Metropolitan police said in a statdment.The arrests were carried out in London, Swindon and the Greater Manchester area on suspicion of “terrorism offences”. The men, aged between 29 and 46, were detained by Counter Terrorism Police on Saturday in relation to “a suspected plot to target a specific premises” — which was not named — and remain in custody.The four Iranian men were arrested under the Terrorism Act, while the fifth man, whose nationality was still being established, was detained under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.Interior minister Yvette Cooper said these were “serious events” part of the UK’s response to “national security threats”.”This is a fast-moving investigation and we are working closely with those at the affected site to keep them updated,” said Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism chief Dominic Murphy.”The investigation is still in its early stages and we are exploring various lines of enquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter,” he added.Meanwhile, three other men, all Iranian nationals, were arrested in London in a separate Counter Terrorism Police operation on Saturday.The Met police confirmed that the three London arrests “are not connected to the arrest of five people yesterday”.The men, aged 39, 44 and 55, were arrested under the National Security Act — which gives law enforcement greater powers to disrupt “state threats” including foreign interference and espionage.- ‘Serious events’ -Cooper thanked the police in a statement early Sunday.”These are serious events that demonstrate the ongoing requirement to adapt our response to national security threats,” Cooper told the PA news agency.”The government continues to work with police and intelligence agencies to support all the action and security assessments that are needed to keep the country safe.”The arrests come amid heightened concerns about Iranian involvement on UK soil. In March, Iran became the first country to be placed on an enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which aims to boost the UK’s national security against covert foreign influences.The measures, due to come into place later this year, will mean that all persons working inside the UK for Iran, its intelligence services or the Revolutionary Guard would have to register or face jail.Last October, the head of Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service revealed that since 2022 the UK had uncovered 20 Iran-backed plots posing “potentially lethal threats”.

British police on Sunday said they had arrested five men, including four Iranians, on suspicion of “preparation of a terrorist act”.The arrests were carried out in London, Swindon and the Greater Manchester area, with all five arrested on suspicion of “terrorism offences”, London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement.The men aged between 29 and 46 were detained by Counter Terrorism Police on Saturday in relation to “a suspected plot to target a specific premises” — wich was not named — and remain in custody.The nationality of one of the men is still being established, police said. “This is a fast-moving investigation and we are working closely with those at the affected site to keep them updated,” said Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism chief Dominic Murphy.”The investigation is still in its early stages and we are exploring various lines of enquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter,” he added.Meanwhile, three other men, all Iranian nationals, were arrested in London in a separate Counter Terrorism Police operation on Saturday.The men, aged 39, 44 and 55, were arrested under the National Security Act — which gives law enforcement greater powers to disrupt “state threats” including foreign interference and espionage — the Met Police said in a statement on Sunday.Interior minister Yvette Cooper “thanked” the police in a statement.”These are serious events that demonstrate the ongoing requirement to adapt our response to national security threats,” Cooper told the PA news agency.”The Government continues to work with police and intelligence agencies to support all the action and security assessments that are needed to keep the country safe.”