Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has sparked international outrage after posting videos mocking detained activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, with several governments condemning the treatment as humiliating and inhumane. The footage, shared on social media after Israeli forces intercepted the convoy in international waters, showed activists kneeling with their hands tied and foreheads pressed to the ground while Israel’s national anthem played in the background.
The activists were among around 430 people detained after Israeli naval forces stopped the Global Sumud Flotilla, a convoy of roughly 50 vessels that had sailed from Turkey in an attempt to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The detainees were taken to Ashdod port in southern Israel, where Ben-Gvir filmed himself waving an Israeli flag and taunting those in custody.
