Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician, published a video on Wednesday showing him taunting foreign activists who were forcibly removed from a Gaza aid flotilla. The footage depicts activists bound with plastic ties and kneeling as the Israeli national anthem plays.
According to reports, Israeli forces seized the activists in international waters and transferred them to a temporary detention facility in the Israeli city of Ashdod. In the video, a woman approaches Ben-Gvir and says in English, "Free Palestine!" before masked security personnel push her head down and escort her away. Ben-Gvir tells the officers, "Well done," then declares, "Welcome to Israel. We are the owners of the land here; that is how it should be."
Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Canada summoned Israeli ambassadors to express outrage and demand the release of their citizens. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called the action "unacceptable." Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni posted on social media platform X that the activists, including many Italian citizens, were treated in a manner violating human dignity. Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned the video.
Ben-Gvir, 50, is a lawyer and leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party. Appointed National Security Minister after the 2022 elections, he controls the Israeli Border Police in the occupied West Bank. He has been convicted of inciting racism, vandalism, and supporting a terrorist organization. He regularly undertakes anti-Palestinian actions, including raiding the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem.
The Gaza aid flotillas consist of ships carrying activists from various countries, aiming to deliver humanitarian supplies and raise awareness since October 2023, when Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza. On Tuesday, at least 430 activists from over 46 countries were detained as Israel intercepted the latest flotilla in international waters.
In a previous incident in May 2010, Israeli commandos raided the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, killing 10 activists and injuring dozens. Flotilla organizers accuse the Israeli navy of firing rubber bullets at activists. Prominent activist Greta Thunberg, who participated in an earlier flotilla, told Sweden's Aftonbladet that activists were beaten, kicked, and threatened.
Currently, nearly 10,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, according to the Addameer organization. Among them, 3,532 are held in administrative detention (without charge or trial), and 342 are children. Israel is the only country in the world that tries children in military courts. Under a new law proposed by Ben-Gvir, military courts can impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis, but no equivalent penalty applies to Jews who kill Palestinians.
