Italy, Ireland and Spain have called on the EU to sanction Israel’s far-right national security minister, who posted a video showing detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla forced to their knees with hands bound.
A global outcry erupted after Itamar Ben Gvir published a video on Wednesday showing the heavy-handed treatment of foreign activists from the flotilla who were detained at sea by Israel and awaiting deportation at the southern port of Ashdod.
In the video, dozens of activists are seen forced to kneel with their foreheads to the ground and their hands tied.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the treatment of the activists “unacceptable.”
Tajani wrote on X Thursday that he had requested sanctions against the minister for “seizing the activists in international waters and subjecting them to harassment and humiliation, in violation of the most basic human rights.”
His comment came a day after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the activists’ treatment “intolerable” and demanded an apology by Israel.
On Wednesday, Sánchez wrote on X the “images of Israeli Minister Ben Gvir humiliating members of the international flotilla in support of Gaza are unacceptable. We will not tolerate anyone mistreating our citizens.”
In Ireland, a leaked letter revealed Prime Minister Micheál Martin urging the EU chief for “further action” against Israel over the activists’ treatment.
In the letter to European Council President António Costa that was leaked to the AFP news agency on Thursday by an unnamed government source, Martin condemned Israel’s “shocking treatment of EU citizens” and “unacceptable behaviour” by Ben Gvir.
The letter dated Wednesday called for a discussion about the matter at the next European Council meeting in June.
“At the very least, this must include the banning of products from Israeli settlements and the suspension of parts if not all of the EU’s Association Agreement with Israel,” Martin said.
That June 2000 agreement, a treaty that sets a framework for cooperation, includes a clause requiring respect for human rights.
Meanwhile, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said that Ben-Gvir has been banned from entering the country for five years following international outrage over the video’s publication.
Criticism from within Israel
The video even drew a sharp rebuke from senior politicians within Israel’s government.
“The way minister Ben Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel’s values and norms. I have instructed the relevant authorities to deport the provocateurs (activists) as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
And Ben Gvir was also criticised by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
“You knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display and not for the first time. You have undone tremendous, professional, and successful efforts made by so many people from IDF soldiers to Foreign Ministry staff and many others. No, you are not the face of Israel,” Sa’ar said in a post on X.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Turkey last week in the latest attempt by activists to breach Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory, after Israeli forces intercepted a previous convoy last month.
Israeli authorities said 430 activists aboard the flotilla were en route to Israel, while the Adalah rights group said some had already arrived at Ashdod port and were being held there.
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.
During the Gaza war, triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, the territory has suffered severe shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies, with Israel at times halting aid deliveries entirely.
Additional sources • AFP