Katz says detained activists to be forced to watch video of Hamas atrocities

Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the military to screen a video showing atrocities committed on October 7, 2023, to detained activists who had attempted to challenge Israel’s blockade on Gaza, his office says in a statement.

The harrowing 43-minute video produced by the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s office shows shows uncensored, difficult-to-watch footage of people being massacred and bodies mutilated during the onslaught, much of it taken from terrorists’ bodycams.

“It’s appropriate that Greta the antisemite and her Hamas-supporting friends should see exactly who is the terror group Hamas that they support and act on behalf of, what atrocious acts they carried out on women, the elderly and kids, and who Israel is fighting for its defense against,” Katz says in the statement, referring to Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, the most famous of the 12 activists aboard the boat.

He orders that the video be screened for the group once they arrive at Ashdod, where their boat is being towed to after soldiers took control of the ship as it neared the Gaza coast overnight.

Katz praises the soldiers for their swift takeover of the ship. Footage from before soldiers boarded shows that the activists planned to make a show of not putting up resistance.

Israel has shown the atrocities video, titled “Bearing Witness,” to journalists and public figures in limited screenings around the world as part of its efforts to rally support for its war on Hamas, though its use of the footage has occasionally garnered controversy.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry posts a picture of Thunberg, in a signature frog hat, smiling as she is offered a sandwich from a soldier.

Greta Thunberg is currently on her way to Israel, safe and in good spirits. pic.twitter.com/pjWSr0lOsE

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 9, 2025

It says the activist is “safe and in good spirits.”