Israel said Thursday it had deported all foreign activists seized when Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla earlier this week, as international condemnation continued to mount over both the interceptions and the treatment of detainees.
"All foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel. Israel will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza," Israel's foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said.
According to Al Jazeera, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Adalah, said most of the roughly 430 abducted activists were transported to Ramon Airport in southern Israel for deportation, while the remainder were deported from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. On Tuesday evening, Israeli forces finished intercepting the last of the more than 50 boats sailing toward Gaza in international waters.
The interceptions drew condemnation from across Europe and beyond, but the response intensified after Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video on social media showing himself taunting activists being held by Israeli forces. In one clip, a handcuffed activist shouts "Free Palestine" and is immediately seized by the hair and shoved to the ground by security personnel. In another, dozens of detainees are shown bound and kneeling with their foreheads to the floor as Israel's national anthem plays from a loudspeaker, while Ben-Gvir waves a large Israeli flag.
Several nations, including France, Canada, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, summoned Israeli ambassadors to express outrage. European Council President Antonio Costa said he was "appalled" by Ben-Gvir's behavior, calling it "completely unacceptable." Italy demanded an apology and its foreign minister requested that EU sanctions against Ben-Gvir be placed on the agenda at the bloc's next foreign ministers' meeting.
The foreign ministers of 10 countries, including Spain, Brazil and India, described Israeli forces' actions as "blatant violations of international law and international humanitarian law."
The video prompted a rare public rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Israel has every right to prevent provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza. However, the way that Minister Ben-Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel's values and norms," Netanyahu said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also addressed Ben-Gvir directly on X: "You knowingly caused harm to our state in this disgraceful display – and not for the first time."
The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said Ben-Gvir had "betrayed the dignity of his nation."
