By Rami Ayyub
JERUSALEM, May 21 (Reuters) - Gaza flotilla activists who were detained by Israel and later pinned to the ground to the taunts of Israel’s far-right police minister have been released from prison and will be deported to Turkey on Thursday, officials said.
The activists were arrested at a port in southern Israel after the Israeli navy intercepted their protest flotilla in international waters. Their treatment by police officers under Itamar Ben-Gvir’s direction drew an international outcry and a rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ben-Gvir and at least one other minister in Netanyahu’s government, transport chief Miri Regev, posted campaign-style videos of themselves visiting the port and lambasting the protesters, attention-grabbing antics ahead of potential early elections in Israel.
ACTIVISTS TO BE FLOWN TO TURKEY FROM SOUTHERN ISRAEL
Flotilla organisers say they aim to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance, something aid bodies say is still in short supply despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in place since October 2025 that includes guarantees of increased aid.
The flotilla departed from southern Turkey this week before being intercepted on Wednesday. Past flotillas - including one carrying Swedish activist Greta Thunberg - were also intercepted by Israel, with participants later deported.
In a statement, Israeli rights group Adalah said the estimated 430 activists had been released from prison in southern Israel and would be deported via the Ramon airport near Eilat on the Red Sea.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country was conducting special flights that would bring Turkish citizens as well as third country participants to Turkey. Those on board the flotilla included citizens of Spain, South Korea and Ireland.
“We will continue to uphold the rights of our citizens and fulfil our humanitarian responsibility toward civilians in Gaza,” Fidan said.
Spain’s foreign minister said its diplomats in Israel had been informed that some 44 Spanish flotilla members would depart from Israel at 3 p.m. local time (1200 GMT).
TAUNTING OF ACTIVISTS COMES AHEAD OF ISRAELI ELECTION
Ben-Gvir’s video showed officers forcing an activist to the ground after she chants “Free, free Palestine”.
The video also shows dozens of detained activists kneeling in rows with their hands zip-tied behind their backs, in what appears to be an outdoor Israeli port facility. In the background, soldiers armed with long guns can be seen patrolling the area from aboard a military vessel.
During Israel’s two-year military assault in Gaza, launched after the October 2023 Hamas attacks, Israeli troops frequently lined up detained Palestinians on the ground, with their hands bound.
“Look at them now. See how they look now, not heroes and not anything,” Ben-Gvir says in the video as he walks by the activists while carrying a large Israeli flag.
Posting her own video at Ashdod port, transport chief Miri Regev, a member of Netanyahu’s political party, said: “This is what should be done to supporters of terror who came to break the siege on Gaza.”
Netanyahu, who leads the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, said Ben-Gvir’s conduct was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms.” The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said he “betrayed (the) dignity of his nation.”
Ben-Gvir’s political base includes some of Israel’s most nationalist voters, a bloc that Netanyahu’s Likud party has in the past tried to woo ahead of national elections, the next of which is due by October 27.
This week, Israel moved closer to a snap election after lawmakers gave an initial nod to dissolve parliament, with opinion polls showing Netanyahu would lose the first national vote since the 2023 Hamas attacks.
INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY WITH ISRAELI ENVOYS SUMMONED
The detention and taunting of the activists led France, Canada, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands to summon top Israeli diplomats in their countries.
Canada and Spain are among countries that have imposed sanctions on Ben-Gvir and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, citing allegations that they incited violence against Palestinians.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that whatever one thinks of the flotilla, “our compatriots who are participating in it must be treated with respect and released as quickly as possible.”
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem with additional reporting by John Irish in Paris and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, Editing by William Maclean)
