As international condemnation mounts over the mistreatment of detained Gaza-bound activists, hundreds of people seized by Israeli forces from the Global Sumud Flotilla remained in custody Thursday, with the vast majority en route to deportation from southern Israel’s Ramon Airport.
The latest incident marks the second consecutive attempt by activist organizers to breach Israel’s 17-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, a restriction that has pushed the besieged Palestinian territory into catastrophic humanitarian hardship following the outbreak of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war. Last week, roughly 50 vessels carrying more than 430 activists from dozens of countries set sail from Turkey, only to be intercepted at sea by Israeli security forces and taken into custody.
Controversy erupted earlier this week after Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted a provocative video of the detained activists, who were shown with their hands bound and foreheads pressed to the ground. Captioned “Welcome to Israel”, the footage showed Ben Gvir heckling the captives while waving an Israeli flag, drawing fierce backlash from leaders across the globe as well as unexpected criticism from within Israel’s own governing coalition.
Adalah, the Israeli legal center representing the detained activists, confirmed Thursday that most detainees were being transferred from Ktziot Prison, a maximum-security facility located in the Negev Desert near the Gaza border, to Ramon Airport for expulsion. Only a small group remains in custody, including one Israeli citizen activist who attended a court hearing Thursday to face what Adalah calls “absurd” and unfounded charges, including illegal entry, unlawful stay, and attempting to break the Gaza blockade.
Multiple detained activists and observers have shared harrowing accounts of abuse in custody. Legal director Suhad Bishara told reporters that at least two activists had been hospitalized after being shot with rubber bullets, while dozens more reported injuries including suspected broken ribs. Bishara added that while attorneys had been able to meet with many detainees, a number of activists were forced to attend court hearings without any legal representation.
Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian journalist who was deported ahead of the main group, described violent treatment at the hands of Israeli security forces during a press conference after landing at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport Thursday. “They beat us up. They kicked us and punched us and shouted ‘Welcome to Israel’,” Mantovani said, adding that he and other early deportees were transported to Ben Gurion Airport in handcuffs and leg chains before being put on flights out of the country.
Dario Carotenuto, an Italian member of parliament who was also detained and expelled, called the experience traumatizing. “It was really tough… They called us by number… with rifles pointed at us… I think those were the longest seconds in my life,” Carotenuto said.
The backlash to Ben Gvir’s video has been swift and widespread, with condemnation pouring in from national governments including Italy, Spain, Australia, and Canada. Even domestic allies and international partners joined in the criticism: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar publicly distanced themselves from the minister’s actions, while U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee labeled the incident “despicable actions”.
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’ independent expert on human rights in the Palestinian territories and a native Italian, called on her home country to take concrete action against Israel. “Words do not suffice: let Italy stop opposing the suspension” of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, she wrote on the social platform X.
Israel has enforced a complete land, air, and sea blockade of Gaza since 2007, when Hamas took control of the territory. Since the outbreak of war in October 2023, triggered by Hamas’ cross-border attack that killed roughly 1,200 people, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has collapsed. More than 2 million Gazans, nearly the entire population, have been forcibly displaced at least once and rely entirely on international aid for survival. While a fragile temporary ceasefire has reduced active fighting in recent months, Israel has repeatedly paused aid deliveries, leaving Gaza grappling with extreme shortages of food, clean water, medicine, and other critical supplies.
A previous attempt to break the blockade by the Global Sumud Flotilla was intercepted last month in international waters off the coast of Greece. Most participants were expelled directly to European countries, while two were taken into Israeli custody, held for several days, and then deported.