Middle East updates: Thousands attend mass Houthi funeral

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot​​ said his country will recognize Palestineas a state at the UN General Assembly later this month. Prevot also announced "tough sanctions" on the Israeli government.

"Any form of antisemitism or the glorification of terrorism by Hamassupporters will also be strongly condemned," Prevot posted on his X account.

According to Prevot, Brussels "had to take decisive decisions to increase the pressure on the Israeli government and the Hamas terrorists" in the face of the current situation in both the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The Belgian foreign minister called the situation in Gaza "a humanitarian tragedy" and noted "violence carried out by Israel in violation of international law."

"It's not about punishing the Israeli people, but to make sure that their government respects international and humanitarian law and takes measures to improve the situation on the ground," Prevot said.

Several countries have already announced their intent to recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly later this month, including Australia, Canada, France, Malta, and Portugal, with the United Kingdom saying it would acknowledge Palestine as a state should certain conditions not be filled by Israel.

Israel has repeatedly condemned the move, saying it rewards terrorism.

A pro-Palestinian activist flotilla set sail from the Spanish city of Barcelona headed to the Gaza Strip. It is the second try, as the flotilla first set sail on Sunday, but was forced to return to port due to stormy weather. 

The flotilla is expected to arrive at the Gaza Strip in mid-September. Dozens more boats were expected to join them from across the Mediterranean later this week.

The Global Sumud Flotilla hopes to break the Israeli sea blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the population. Organizers have said it is the largest action of its kind to date.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was on board one of the vessels. Thunberg had earlier participated in a similar voyage that ended in the interception of the vessel by Israeli troops and her deportation.

Israel has enacted a naval blockade of Gaza since 2007, after Islamist militant group Hamas took over the Gaza Strip. Israel says the blockade is necessary for its security and to keep Hamas from getting weapons, but critics say the blockade is collective punishment on the Palestinian population of Gaza.  

Germany warned Israel against taking full control of the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany rejects "all thoughts that would imply displacement or dispossession of the Palestinian population."

"Gaza has to be part of a future Palestinian state within the framework of a two-state solution," he said.

Wadephul said that the same applied to the occupied West Bank, where Germany rejects any plans on the part of Israel for annexation in violation of international law.

In terms of Gaza, Wadephul also stressed the gravity of the situation.

"The humanitarian situation is dire," he said, adding that fighting had to be brought to an end and the hostages still being held by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas need to be released.

The pro-Palestinian Global Sumud Flotilla with Greta Thunberg on board returned to Barcelona, postponing for the time being the voyage to the Gaza strip to "prioritize safety," a statement said.

"Due to unsafe weather conditions, we conducted a sea trial and then returned to port to allow the storm to pass," the group said.

"This meant delaying our departure to avoid risking complications with the smaller boats," it added, citing gusts that exceeded 55 kilometres (34 miles) per hour.

The flotilla, consisting of more than 20 boats, had left Barcelona on Sunday.

Activists are hoping to breach the Israeli sea blockade of the Gaza coast to deliver humanitarian aid to the population.

Among those on board is Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. It is Thunberg's second time participating in a similar voyage. Earlier this year, she was aboard the Madleen, which was intercepted 200 kilometers off the coast of Gaza. Israeli authorities towed the vessel to its port in Ahdod and deported Thunberg and the other activists. 

The flotilla is expected to reach Gaza in mid-September.

The International Association of Genocide Scholars published a resolution declaring Israel’s "policies and actions in Gaza" as having met the legal definition of Article II of the 1948 UN convention on genocide.

86% of the 500-member scholars' association agreed with the notion that Israel's actions in Gaza met the genocide criteria.

The 1948 UN Genocide Convention, which was adopted after the mass murder of Jews by Nazi Germany, defines genocide as crimes committed "with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such." 

Israel's Foreign Ministry called the resolution "an embarrassment to the legal profession and to any academic standard," adding that it was" entirely based on Hamas' campaign of lies."

Melanie O'Brien, the organization's president and a professor of international law at the University of Western Australia, told The Associated Press that experts in genocide studies can "see this situation for what it is."

"There is no justification for the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide, not even self defense," O'Brien told Reuters separately.

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Monday claimed responsibility for a missile launched towards an Israeli-owned tanker not far from Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port city of Yanbu.

The United Kingdom's maritime agency UKMTO said on Sunday that a captain in the region had reported "a splash in close proximity to their vessel from an unknown projectile" accompanied by "a loud bang" around 40 nautical miles southwest of Yanbu.

"We are aware of security reports alleging that our managed vessel Scarlet Ray was the target of a suspected Houthi attack," said Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS), the Singapore-based firm which is owned by Israeli magnate Idan Ofer and which manages the Liberia-flagged vessel.

EPS said the chemical tanker was undamaged and remained under the command of its captain.

Houthi attacks so close to Saudi terminals, from which crucial energy exports are transported to global markets, are rare. As such, Sunday's attack was "a clear show of strength," according to Ellie Shafik, head of intelligence at the British maritime risk management company Vanguard Tech.

"It is too early to determine whether this represents a broader strategy of escalation, or is a one-off response to the Israeli targeting of Houthi ministers," said Shafik, referring to an Israeli strike on Yemen last Thursday (see entry below).

"However, Saudi Arabia is unlikely to tolerate repeated strikes occurring so close to its territory."

More than 250 media outlets in over 70 countries took part in a front-page protest on Monday highlighting the deaths of dozens of journalists killed during Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip.

"At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no-one left to keep you informed," said Thibaut Bruttin, general director of Reporters Without Borders (RWB).

Among the outlets which took part in the protest were Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, British newspaper The Independent, French newspapers La Croix and L'Humanité, as well as the TAZ and Frankfurter Rundschau in Germany.

The initiative comes a week after five journalists — including employees of Al Jazeera, Associated Press and Reuters — were killed in Israeli strikes on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Earlier in August, six journalists were killed in another Israeli air strike outside the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

In total, around 220 journalists have been killed since Israel began operations in Gaza in response to Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack, according to data from RWB, which also said it has filed four complaints at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes committed against journalists by the Israeli army.

International media have been denied free access to the Gaza Strip since the war broke out.

A funeral for 12 senior Houthi figures killed in an Israeli airstrike last week was attended by thousands of mourners in the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, on Monday.

The Israeli attack last Thursday struck a large crowd of people who had gathered to watch a televised speech by Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, and left most members of the Islamist rebel group's cabinet dead.

Mourners at the funeral at Sanaa's largest mosque chanted the Houthi slogan: "God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam."

The Houthis promote anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiments within the Iranian-led "axis of resistance."

Mohammed Miftah, now de facto government head of the Iran-backed group, vowed revenge and an internal security crackdown against spies.

"We are facing the strongest intelligence empire in the world, the one that targeted the government: the whole Zionist entity [consisting of] the US administration, the Zionist entity [meaning Israel], the Zionist Arabs and spies inside Yemen," Miftah told attendees inside the Al Saleh mosque.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi remains alive but Defense Minister Mohamed al-Atifi, who runs the Missiles Brigades Group, has not been seen since the Israeli strike.

Miftah, who was previously deputy to Prime Minister Ahmad Ghaleb al-Rahwi, is now acting head of government — a largely ceremonial position.

Since Israel's war in Gaza began in October 2023 in retaliation for the deadly raid on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Houthis have attacked Israeli and international vessels in the Red Sea in what they describe as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Welcome to DW's coverage of developments in Gaza, Israel and the wider Middle East on Monday, September 1.

In Yemen, thousands of people attended a funeral for 12 senior Houthi figures killed in an Israeli air strike last week, with the new caretaker leadership vowing revenge.

Meanwhile, hundreds of global media outlets came together to highlight the deaths of journalists covering Israel's war in the Gaza Strip. And a group of academic experts has said that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide.