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Global Sumud Flotilla

Palestinians run for cover as smoke and fire rise during an Israeli strike on the the Al-Muttaqin Mosque in Gaza City on July 28, 2026. (Omar AL-QATTAA/ AFP)
July 29, 2026, 10:46 pm
IDF strikes Gaza City mosque, claims it was used for weapons storage
Army says Al-Muttaqin Mosque was among Hamas sites struck this week, but offers no evidence of arms there; Indonesian activists file complaint against PM for flotilla ‘abuses’
By Emanuel Fabian and AFP
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir taunts detained flotilla activists at Ashdod Port on May 20, 2026. (Screenshot/Ben Gvir's X account)
June 8, 2026, 11:55 pm
Italy investigating Ben Gvir for alleged torture, kidnapping over Gaza flotilla video
Judicial source confirms probe, which Italian news agency says has been underway for several weeks; far-right minister says he’s ‘undeterred’ by ‘lying terror supporters’
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Members of the Global Sumud Flotilla headed for Gaza and arrested and deported by Israel pose outside a terminal following their arrival at Istanbul Airport on May 21, 2026. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
June 5, 2026, 9:14 pm
France opens ‘war crime’ probe over Israel’s treatment of flotilla activists
Investigation launched at government’s request; two of more than 30 French activists aboard flotilla said to still be hospitalized; Israel denies abuse allegations
By AFP
A damaged apartment in a residential building is seen after an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, June 4, 2026. (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)
June 4, 2026, 9:35 pm
Senior Hamas officials killed in Gaza strikes, IDF says; 9 Palestinians reported dead
Military targets commanders in Hamas’s general security mechanism; Gaza medics report five members of same family killed
By Emanuel Fabian and Agencies
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir during a 40 signatures debate in the Knesset, November 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 30, 2026, 9:38 am
Ben Gvir drew fire from fellow right-wingers for his flotilla video. Was that the point?
Footage of the far-right national security minister taunting activists served to differentiate him from more moderate elements of his camp — even as it provoked horror at home and abroad
By Ben Sales
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for a joint press conference at Chigi Palace government offices in Rome, Friday, March 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
May 28, 2026, 6:45 pm
Italy is fuming after Ben Gvir’s flotilla stunt. Is Israel losing a top European ally?
Far-right minister’s derisive viral video capped months of tension as Iran war, Catholic outrage and anti-Trump sentiment pushes Italian PM Meloni’s government to distance itself from Jerusalem
By Rossella Tercatin
L-R: German pro-Palestinian activist Nesrin Zeaiter is seen lying on a stretcher with a neck brace at an airport in Istanbul, Turkey, where Israel deported her on May 21, 2026; and flashing a victory sign, on her feet and without the neck brace, upon arrival in Germany's Hanover Airport on May 23, 2026. (Screen capture: Israeli Foreign Ministry via X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
May 27, 2026, 10:02 am
Foreign Ministry accuses detained flotilla activists of faking their injuries
Ministry mockingly hails ‘miracle’ recovery of German activist filmed lying on a stretcher with a neck brace when deported to Turkey, standing upright two days later in Germany
By ToI Staff
Screen captures from video of Gaza flotilla supporters at Vienna Airport, May 24, 2026. (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
May 25, 2026, 8:41 pm
One arrested as Gaza flotilla activists face rowdy welcome on return to Austria
Video shows man pinned to ground as he chants ‘Free Palestine’; others march through Vienna airport chanting ‘From the river to the sea’; police say they used ‘proportionate force’
By ToI Staff and Agencies
Scenes from a video released by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir showing the minister taunting bound and detained flotilla activists at Ashdod Port on May 20, 2026. (Ben Gvir via X)
May 25, 2026, 4:40 am
Arab, Islamic FMs call Ben Gvir’s taunts of flotilla activists ‘assault on human dignity’
Eight Arab and Muslim countries are latest to condemn far-right minister over video showing him taunting activists kneeling on floor with their hands tied
By Reuters and ToI Staff
A Basque police officer beats a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla upon their arrival at Bilbao Airport on May 23, 2026. (Idurre Etxaburu / AFP)
May 24, 2026, 9:26 pm
Thousands protest in Bilbao over Spanish police’s abuse of Gaza flotilla activists
Some 2,000 march in Basque city after cops filmed beating returning activists at airport; Israel summons Spanish diplomat for explanation of Madrid’s ‘hypocrisy’
By Reuters, Nava Freiberg and ToI Staff
President Isaac Herzog speaks at a ceremony granting the Jerusalem Unity Prize, May 24, 2026. (Screenshot/GPO)
May 24, 2026, 8:04 pm
Herzog slams ‘brutish’ settler violence, appears to pan Ben Gvir over prisoner abuse
President says ‘anarchist mob’ now ‘threatens us all,’ Israel must ‘draw red lines’; far-right minister, responding, says anyone calling Israelis ‘brutes’ is ‘not fit to be president’
By ToI Staff
A Basque police officer beats a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla upon their arrival at Bilbao Airport on May 23, 2026. (Idurre Etxaburu / AFP)
May 24, 2026, 12:09 am
Spanish police beat and detain returning Gaza flotilla activists amid clashes at airport
Cops filmed hitting anti-Israel activists and supporters with batons and dragging them on floor. Violence comes days after global outcry, including from Madrid, over Ben Gvir’s taunting of bound, kneeling detainees
By AFP and ToI Staff
France's Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot gives a press conference after a crisis meeting in Paris on March 2, 2026. (Thibault Camus / POOL / AFP)
May 23, 2026, 7:04 pm
France bans Ben Gvir over ‘reprehensible actions’ toward Gaza flotilla activists
French FM joins calls for EU to sanction far-right minister over video of him taunting bound activists; Poland bans him for five years as ‘a threat to public order’
By ToI Staff and Agencies
Activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla disembark a plane upon arriving at Istanbul Airport, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
May 22, 2026, 11:51 pm
Freed Gaza flotilla activists allege Israeli abuse including rape; Israel denies claims
Italian and German officials say they are probing allegations made by their citizens, including kidnapping and sexual assault, as EU members discuss imposing sanctions on Ben Gvir
By Reuters and ToI Staff
Members of the Global Sumud Flotilla headed for Gaza and arrested and deported by Israel pose outside a terminal following their arrival at Istanbul Airport on May 21, 2026. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
May 21, 2026, 4:28 pm
Amid Ben Gvir furor, Israel deports all 430 foreign flotilla activists, holds one Israeli
Condemnations of Ben Gvir’s video humiliating detainees continue as Italy asks EU for sanctions on the far-right minister, Poland looks to ban him; activists claim they were beaten, tortured; prison service denies it
By Nava Freiberg, Agencies and ToI Staff
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