![\"Israeli](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1202.jpg\")
Israeli minister Ben-Gvir posts video taunting detained Gaza flotilla activists \u2013 video<\/p>\nIsrael\u2019s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has sparked a diplomatic crisis by publishing footage of Israeli security forces abusing international activists who were detained as they tried to sail to Gaza with aid.<\/p>\n
There was a rapid and furious response from countries whose citizens were onboard the boats, including the UK, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland, in many cases delivered in person from the top of government.<\/p>\n
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, one of the country\u2019s staunchest allies, described Ben-Gvir\u2019s behaviour as \u201cdespicable\u201d and said the minister had \u201cbetrayed the dignity of his nation\u201d.<\/p>\n
The video includes images of dozens of men and women kneeling in rows, with their foreheads to the ground and their hands zip-tied behind their back. Ben-Gvir appears waving an Israeli flag, mocking and taunting the detainees, including shouting: \u201cThe people of Israel live\u201d in the face of one bound man.<\/p>\n
Israeli minister Ben-Gvir posts video taunting detained Gaza flotilla activists \u2013 video<\/p>\n
Italy\u2019s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said the images were \u201cunacceptable\u201d, and demanded the release of all Italian citizens involved, along with an apology for the mistreatment and the display of \u201ctotal contempt\u201d toward the Italian government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is inadmissible that these demonstrators, including many Italian citizens, are subjected to this treatment that violates human dignity,\u201d Meloni said in a long statement posted on social media.<\/p>\n
The Spanish foreign minister called the treatment \u201cmonstrous, disgraceful and inhumane\u201d. His British counterpart, Yvette Cooper, said she was \u201ctruly appalled\u201d by the video, which \u201cviolates the most basic standards of respect and dignity in the way people should be treated\u201d, and added that she was in touch with the families of British citizens held by Israel.<\/p>\n
More than 400 activists from 40 countries, travelling on 50 vessels, took part in the flotilla, organisers said. It set off from Turkey carrying food and other aid, in the latest high-profile attempt to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n Seven months after a ceasefire came into force in Gaza, hunger is widespread,<\/a> most Palestinians live in tents or overcrowded shelters without adequate sanitation or access to clean water, and Israeli attacks<\/a> are still a near-daily occurrence.<\/p>\n Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla in international waters on Tuesday and brought everyone onboard to Israel. Earlier on Wednesday, the South Korean president, Lee Jae Myung, also denounced Israel\u2019s actions, describing them as \u201cway out of line\u201d, and questioned the legal basis for the arrests outside Israeli territorial waters.<\/p>\n The global outrage at the activists\u2019 treatment prompted the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to condemn Ben-Gvir within hours of the video being published online.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way that minister Ben-Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel\u2019s values and norms,\u201d he said, adding that he had ordered the deportation of the group \u201cas soon as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, launched a more scathing personal attack on the national security minister. \u201cYou knowingly caused harm to our state in this disgraceful display \u2013 and not for the first time,\u201d he said in a statement on X. \u201cYou are not the face of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Rights groups documented widespread<\/a>, systemic<\/a> torture and abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and detention centres during Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, sparked by the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023.<\/p>\n Sari Bashi, director of the rights group Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, said Ben-Gvir\u2019s video, publicly celebrating the mistreatment of citizens of some of Israel\u2019s closest allies, reflected a broader culture of impunity.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me it\u2019s just an indication of how badly the rights and welfare of detainees have suffered under [Ben Gvir\u2019s] leadership,\u201d Bashi said. \u201cA prison guard who sees his boss\u2019s boss express pride in the mistreatment of foreign detainees will have no qualms about abusing Palestinian detainees and he won\u2019t even have to be afraid to get caught.<\/p>\n \u201cBen-Gvir is saying that this behaviour is welcomed and encouraged at the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n The legal rights group Adalah, which represents some of those detained, said it had \u201cdocumented similar patterns of ill-treatment against activists in previous flotilla missions, for which Israel faced zero accountability\u201d, and called for the international community to take urgent action to protect activists held by Israel.<\/p>\n![\"Israel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779310511_44_1920.jpg\")
Israel Defense Forces intercept Global Sumud Flotilla en route to Gaza \u2013 video<\/p>\n