Israel Deports Hundreds Of Gaza Flotilla Activists To Turkey After Netanyahu Orders Deportation

Israel deported hundreds of Gaza flotilla activists after international backlash over their treatment in custody, with about 420 activists departing Israel on planes bound for Turkey and landing in Istanbul on Thursday evening.

The activists had attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “all foreign activists” from the flotilla had been deported.

Akhir al-Khabar

The AP report said the activists descended stairs to the runway flashing two-fingered salutes and chanting “Free Palestine,” while some appeared to be limping and all were expected to be taken for a medical checkup.

The deportations followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s instruction on Wednesday that the activists be deported “as soon as possible,” after he rebuked National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over provocative videos showing detainees handcuffed and kneeling.

In parallel, Al Jazeera reported that Ankara evacuated 422 people on chartered flights, including 85 of its own citizens, after Israel deported hundreds of foreign activists abducted by Israeli forces earlier this week.

The backlash centered on a video posted by Itamar Ben-Gvir showing himself taunting detained activists who were kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs, prompting multiple countries to summon Israeli envoys.

French foreign affairs minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the actions of Ben-Gvir toward the passengers of the Global Sumud flotilla were “unacceptable,” and the AP report said several countries including Britain, France and Portugal summoned Israeli envoys on Thursday.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reported that European Council President Antonio Costa said he was “appalled” by Ben-Gvir’s behaviour, calling it “completely unacceptable,” while Italy demanded an apology from Israel.

In Israel, Netanyahu said Israel has every right to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,” but that the way Ben-Gvir dealt with the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms.”

Al Jazeera also quoted Adalah’s Miriam Azem saying the incident showed “how much Israeli authorities wanted to make a show out of [this]” and that it was “very much an extension of the Israeli treatment towards Palestinians.”

Beyond deportations, multiple outlets described allegations of abuse by Israeli forces during detention, including claims by Italian detainees that they were beaten and mistreated.

AP reported that Italian newspaper journalist Alessandro Mantovani said, “They kicked me in the legs and punched me in the face,” while Zivan Freidin, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prison Service, said the allegations were “false and entirely without factual basis.”

Al Jazeera said Julien Cabral arrived in Istanbul with a black eye and wound on his left temple after he told AFP he was punched by an Israeli marine raiding his seven-person boat, and he said activists were slapped, verbally abused and forced to beg for food, water and sanitary products.

The dispute also fed into legal and political consequences, with the AP report saying Adalah told it that one participant who holds Israeli citizenship, Zohar Regev, was released following a court hearing on charges of illegal entry into Israel and unlawful stay.

Al Jazeera added that Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said earlier that all “foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported,” and it described the deportations as the fastest Israel has ever carried out as Israel sought to contain public relations damage from Ben-Gvir’s video.