Scandal Over Prisoner Treatment Sparks Outrage as Israel Expands Settlements

The past week saw a wave of strong diplomatic reactions against Israel following an incident in which National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video mocking detained foreign activists. The footage showed Ben-Gvir gleefully observing prisoners forced to kneel with hands bound, after Israeli forces intercepted a humanitarian aid flotilla attempting to breach the Gaza blockade in international waters.

Combined with reports that at least 15 activists experienced sexual assault during detention, the affair triggered the strongest international diplomatic backlash against Israel in recent weeks. France banned Ben-Gvir from entering the country, while more than a dozen nations including Italy, Canada, Spain, Ireland, Germany and South Korea summoned the Israeli ambassador or issued formal statements of condemnation. Even U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee stated that Ben-Gvir had 'betrayed his nation's dignity'.

On May 24, Israeli President Isaac Herzog publicly spoke out, condemning settler violence as 'brutal behavior' and stating that 'abuse of prisoners is strictly prohibited.' In response, Ben-Gvir called for the president's impeachment.

While the scandal dominated headlines, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich advanced plans to demolish the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in the strategic E1 corridor east of Jerusalem. Smotrich framed settlement expansion as retaliation for the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued against him. 'The Palestinian Authority has launched a war, and they will receive war in return,' Smotrich declared.

This week also saw the Knesset Education Committee fast-track a bill to establish a heritage authority for the West Bank and Gaza, granting Israeli civilian agencies control over archaeological sites. The committee's legal adviser warned the bill 'contradicts international agreements' signed by Israel, while the Israeli military opposed applying the bill to Gaza, citing fears it could constitute de facto annexation.

This political backdrop coincided with escalating attacks and demolitions in the West Bank. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 50 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage were recorded in a single week. Settlers set cars ablaze in Halhul, leveled agricultural land in Beit Ummar, and destroyed olive groves in Wadi al-Sha'ar and Qaryut. In the village of al-Mughayyir, Israeli forces torched farmland and fired tear gas into a boys' school for three consecutive weeks.

In Ein el-Hilweh in the Jordan Valley, Israeli bulldozers demolished the Daraghmeh family's home and livestock pens on May 20, despite letters from the family's lawyer indicating they had lived there for decades and that the demolition would strip them of their home and livelihood. Soldiers, alongside a settler, prevented Red Crescent staff from providing tents to the displaced family and confiscated their vehicle.

In Gaza, at least 27 Palestinians were killed during the week despite a 'ceasefire' agreement. An Israeli airstrike on May 24 killed Mohammad Abu Mallouh, his wife Alaa Zaqlan, and their six-month-old son Osama in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The previous day, five police officers and a 13-year-old boy died when Israeli warplanes bombed a police station in northern Gaza. Since October 2023, the total death toll in Gaza has reached 72,797, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

The humanitarian situation remains critical: 1.7 million people are sheltering in evacuation sites, with only half of aid trucks from Egypt able to unload at Israeli crossings in the first 18 days of May. The Gaza Ministry of Health warned that 250 kidney disease patients risk losing access to dialysis, 11,000 diabetes patients lack insulin, and 110 hemophilia patients have no essential medications. This week also marked the third consecutive year Israel prevented Muslims in Gaza from performing the Hajj pilgrimage.