Turkey yesterday said it was sending charter flights to Israel to repatriate Gaza flotilla activists, after Israeli forces detained them in scenes that sparked international condemnation.
“We plan to bring our citizens and participants from third countries to Turkey via special charter flights we will organize today,” Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan said in a statement.
About 50 vessels set sail from Turkey on Thursday last week seeking to break Israel’s blockade of the besieged Palestinian territory and were joined at sea by a handful of others.
Photo: X account of Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir via AFP
Israeli forces on Tuesday began intercepting them off Cyprus, with Israeli officials and the flotilla organizers saying 430 activists were detained.
They were taken to the Port of Ashdod, where footage posted on X by Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir showed activists being forced to kneel, with their hands tied behind their backs and their foreheads on the ground.
The video drew swift international uproar, and Ben-Gvir was criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar.
Ankara said the footage “openly demonstrated to the world the violent and barbaric mentality” of Netanyahu’s administration.
Fidan did not say how many activists would be flown to Turkey, but Turkish media reported that 78 Turkish nationals were among the detainees.
Captioned “Welcome to Israel,” the footage shows dozens of activists forced to kneel with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground. At times, the Israeli national anthem could be heard playing in the background.
The footage also shows Ben-Gvir heckling and waving an Israeli flag among the detained activists.
Ben-Gvir drew the ire of Netanyahu, who said the minister’s conduct was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms,” adding that authorities would deport the activists “as soon as possible.”
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee denounced what he said were the national security minister’s “despicable actions.”
European Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality Hadja Lahbib wrote on X that “no one should be punished for defending humanity,” while Belgium and France summoned the Israeli ambassadors in their capitals over what Paris called his “unacceptable actions.”
Saar said that Ben-Gvir “knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display — and not for the first time.”
Ben-Gvir hit back, saying: “I am proud to be the minister in charge of the organizations that operated today against those supporters of terror.”
“Yes, there will be all sorts of pictures that Gideon Saar does not like, but I think they are a great source of pride,” he added in parliament.
Nonprofit legal group Adalah also criticized Israeli authorities over the video.
“Israel is employing a criminal policy of abuse and humiliation against activists seeking to confront Israel’s ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people,” the group, whose lawyers went to the detention center to meet the detainees, said in a statement.
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Poland also condemned the incident, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney calling the treatment of civilians on board the flotilla “abominable.”
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