This screen grab taken from footage released on Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s X account on May 20, 2026 shows dozens of detained activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs and their foreheads on the ground on the deck of a military boat in Israel.
Image: X ACCOUNT OF ISRAEL'S NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER ITAMAR BEN GVIR / AFP
Lior Soroka
A woman shouts “Free, free Palestine” before an Israeli security officer grabs her head and forces her to the ground. The camera pans over to the smiling face of Israel’s security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.
In a video he posted to X on Wednesday, Ben-Gvir, clearly in his element, waves an Israeli flag and offers taunts as rows of detained international activists - participants in an aid flotilla meant to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza - receive rough treatment at the hands of Israeli forces. The detainees are arrayed face down, hands bound, as the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, plays from speakers.
The footage, filmed at Israel’s Port of Ashdod, drew quick and loud condemnation, internationally and in Israel.
“This is how we welcome terror supporters,” Ben-Gvir posted on X. “Welcome to Israel, we are the landlords,” he says in the video.
The Israeli Navy completed an operation on Tuesday in international waters to intercept the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was en route to Gaza, firing rubber bullets at some of the more than 40 vessels and smashing activists’ onboard cameras.
This screen grab taken from footage released on Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s X account on May 20, 2026 shows the treatment of detained activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Image: X ACCOUNT OF ISRAEL'S NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER ITAMAR BEN GVIR / AFP
The flotilla was the latest effort by international activists to contest Israel’s control over aid to Gaza, where more than 2 million Palestinians, many displaced, face ongoing shortages. Israeli authorities intensified their sea blockade of Gaza after the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
“All 430 activists have been transferred to Israeli vessels and are making their way to Israel,” Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Tuesday night, adding that they “will be able to meet with their consular representatives.”
Six countries with citizens among the participants - Italy, France, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain - summoned their respective Israeli ambassadors following the video. Others, including Britain, Germany, Ireland and Portugal, offered condemnation of how the activists were treated.
At least one American had been traveling with the flotilla and appeared to be among the detainees.
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a nonprofit group based in Beacon, New York, dedicated to protecting the river, said in a statement after the interception that Liam Henrie, a longtime crew member and boat captain with the organization, was missing.
The group said that Henrie was one of three of its former crew members who were detained last month near Greece as part of another flotilla.
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called Ben-Gvir’s actions “despicable.” He called the flotilla “a stupid stunt,” but condemned Ben-Gvir, saying he betrayed the dignity of his nation.
“The images of Israeli Minister Ben Gvir are unacceptable,” wrote Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “It is impermissible for these protesters, including many Italian citizens, to be subjected to this treatment, which violates human dignity.”
The treatment of civilian participants in the flotilla was “abominable,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement. “Canada has already imposed strict sanctions on Mr. Ben-Gvir, including asset freezes and a travel ban, in response to his repeated incitement of violence.”
Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister of Spain, called on the European Union to bar Ben-Gvir’s entry.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in whose cabinet Ben-Gvir served, said in a statement that the way Ben-Gvir “dealt with the activists … is not in line with Israel’s values and norms.” Netanyahu added that Israel has every right to prevent “Hamas terrorist supporters from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza,” and that the activists would be deported as quickly as possible.
Israeli authorities frequently accuse flotilla activists focused on humanitarian concerns of support for Hamas.
Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, also published a video Wednesday from the Port of Ashdod, showing the detained activists. They “did not bring any humanitarian aid,” she said. “They arrive drugged, with alcohol.”
In a statement to the Israeli media, Israel’s Prison Service defended its actions but said it could not comment on parts of the video that fell outside its jurisdiction. “During the reception of the detainees, the prison guards were required to act to maintain order and security in the place,” the statement read. “All actions were carried out in accordance with procedures and professional considerations.”
Activist flotillas have been trying to reach Gaza for years, meeting with harsh responses from Israel.
Of Ben-Gvir’s video, Noor Rami Saad, a spokeswoman for the Global Sumud Flotilla, said in a statement that “It is a natural outcome of impunity: today he offends more boldly, this time targeting western countries that have, at various times, provided political cover for the occupation’s crimes.”
The Palestinian Mission to the U.N. said the video flaunted treatment Palestinians had come to expect: “Can you imagine the terror and horror Israel inflicts on Palestinian children, women, and men in detention centers when the cameras are away?”
Since taking office in late 2022, Ben-Gvir, who leads the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, in coalition with Netanyahu’s ruling government after years as an outsider provocateur, has maintained a hard-line stance toward Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Netanyahu has remained in power in part through his alliance with Ben-Gvir and others on the far right, raising ire among Netanyahu backers who do not support, or who fear the backlash generated by, the violent vigilante settler movement key to Ben-Gvir’s base.
As a government minister, Ben-Gvir has frequently put out videos with the apparent intention of inflaming tensions, such as footage of his visits to the Temple Mount, a religiously and politically contested site.
Ben-Gvir “caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X of Wednesday’s video. Addressing Ben-Gvir directly, Saar wrote, “You are not the face of Israel.”
Ben-Gvir responded: “Anyone who comes to our territory to support terrorism and identify with Hamas will take a hit, and we will not turn the other cheek.”
Siham Shamalakh in Cairo contributed to this report.