Ben-Gvir humiliates the participants of the Flotilla captured by Israel: "Don't let their cries bother you"

BarcelonaThe Israeli Minister of National Security, the far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, has published a video on X in which he is seen mocking the participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla, who disembarked at the port of Ashdod this Wednesday. A total of 428 activists from 44 countries, sailing in 50 ships, were illegally captured in international waters near Cyprus and transferred to a prison ship, following an interception in which – as can be seen in the videos recorded by the activists – Israeli soldiers opened fire on some ships and rammed at least one of the vessels.

In the images published by Ben-Gvir and also by some Israeli media who have had access to the area where they are detained, it is seen how the police drag the activists on the ground, who have their hands tied behind their backs with zip ties and are kneeling with their heads on the ground in a tent or under the sun. Ben-Gvir walks among them with an Israeli flag and tells them: "Welcome to Israel, we are the masters of the Earth." At one point, one of the activists shouts "Free Palestine" and, when the masked police pounce on her, Ben-Gvir tells them "good job". At the end of the images, a woman is heard shouting and the minister says to the camera: "Don't let their screams bother you".

International indignation

The images of the Israeli minister have caused a wave of international consternation, and several states —which have citizens among the detained activists— have condemned Ben-Gvir's vexatious attitude. Italy, which has a Member of Parliament and a journalist among those detained, has called it "inadmissible," while South Korea has described it as "out of place." "What is the legal basis [for the detentions]? Are they Israeli territorial waters?" asked Korean President Lee Jae-myung rhetorically. "Is it Israeli territory? If there is a conflict, can they confiscate and detain ships from third countries?"

the Israeli navy ended up intercepting the 68 ships that had crossed the MediterraneanAfter receiving the initial criticism, Benjamin Netanyahu published a statement in which he distances himself from his minister. "The way Minister Ben-Gvir has treated the Flotilla activists does not respect Israel's values and norms," the statement reads. Netanyahu assures that he has ordered the activists "to be deported as soon as possible." In five months, those who are now partners of the most right-wing government in Israel's history will face the first elections in Israel under the genocide in Gaza.

Thursday the Israeli navy ended up intercepting the 68 ships that had crossed the Mediterranean to denounce the illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip. Many had set sail from Barcelona on April 15, and later ships from Italy and Greece joined them, where the ships were boarded –22 of which were destroyed–. They also captured 171 activists, who were later released on the island of Crete. Their two visible leaders, the Catalan Saif Abukeshek and the Brazilian Thiago Ávila, were detained for ten days and released. Among the 428 activists currently detained in Israel are about twenty Catalans. The Spanish government issued a joint statement on Tuesday with the governments of Turkey, Brazil, Colombia, Jordan, Bangladesh, Libya, Indonesia, the Maldives, and Pakistan, in which they consider the Israeli attack on the Flotilla a flagrant violation of international law and an arbitrary detention. They also demand the release of all detainees.