Israel deports Gaza flotilla activists after outcry over detention treatment

JERUSALEM — Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by its forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, as the first group arrived in Turkiye following global outcry over their treatment in custody.

Hundreds of activists from countries around the world were placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea on Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.

Turkish foreign ministry sources said 422 activists, including 85 Turkish nationals, were flown from southern Israel on three planes chartered by Ankara. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition confirmed the deportation flights and said several other activists had been sent directly to their home countries.

Adalah, the legal center representing the flotilla members, said earlier on Thursday that the majority were "en route for deportation" from Ramon Airport in Israel's far south. It said they had been held at Israel's Ktziot Prison, in the Negev Desert near Gaza.

The deportations came after Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sparked widespread condemnation by posting videos captioned "Welcome to Israel", showing the detained activists with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground, while the minister heckled and waved an Israeli flag among the detained activists.

Widespread backlash

The footage triggered widespread condemnation and a diplomatic backlash on Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Ben-Gvir's conduct was "not in line with Israel's values and norms", while US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said the minister had "betrayed the dignity of his nation".

Several detainees later alleged they were beaten and mistreated while in Israeli custody.

Israeli forces "attacked us", said Turkish national Bulal Kitay, after he got off the plane at Istanbul airport. "Each of us was beaten, women and men … It's what Palestinians experience all the time," Kitay added.

Two Italian citizens who had been detained by Israel returned home Thursday, saying they had been beaten and mistreated. "They kicked me in the legs and punched me in the face," said Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian newspaper journalist.

The claims were denied by Israeli prison officials. Zivan Freidin, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prison Service, said the allegations were "false and entirely without factual basis".

Several countries, including Britain, France and Portugal, summoned Israeli envoys on Thursday over concerns about the treatment of flotilla activists and in protest of Ben-Gvir's actions. Turkiye, Greece, Italy and Indonesia also condemned Israel for Ben-Gvir's comments and the treatment of flotilla activists.

Regional tensions have also continued to spill beyond Gaza. Israeli airstrikes and shelling on several towns in southern Lebanon killed at least eight people on Thursday, while Hezbollah announced retaliatory attacks against Israeli military positions, according to Lebanese media reports.