Gaza flotilla activists deported from Israel as outrage grows over treatment

Gaza flotilla activists who were detained by Israel and later pinned to the ground to the taunts of Israel’s far-right national security minister have been released from prison and will be deported to Turkey on Thursday, officials said.

JERUSALEM — Western governments voiced outrage on Thursday after Israel’s far-right security minister posted a video of himself taunting Gaza-bound flotilla activists being pinned to the ground, ​with two later alleging they were physically assaulted in detention.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

The activists’ treatment by police officers under the direction of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also drew a rebuke from ‌Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and from the United States, Israel’s staunchest ally.

The activists, whose vessel was intercepted on Wednesday in international waters by Israeli naval forces as they were trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, were all deported from Israel on Thursday, the Israeli foreign ministry said.