Israel begins deporting Gaza aid flotilla activists amid global outcry

Israel’s treatment of the hundreds of abductees has been condemned by several countries, including key allies.Published On 21 May 2026Israel says it has deported all the foreign activists abducted by Israeli forces who stormed a Gaza aid flotilla earlier this week, following global outcry over their treatment in custody.“All foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel. Israel will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza,” Israel’s foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US imposes sanctions on Gaza flotilla organisers: Why it matterslist 2 of 3Israel’s Ben-Gvir publishes video taunting detained flotilla activistslist 3 of 3US condemns Israel’s Ben-Gvir while sanctioning Gaza flotilla organisersend of listEarlier, the Israel" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="131468" data-entity-type="organization">Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Adalah, told Al Jazeera that most of the roughly 430 abducted activists were being transported to Ramon Airport in southern Israel, from where they would be deported. The rest will be deported from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.On Tuesday evening, Israeli forces finished intercepting the last of the more than 50 boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla as they were sailing towards Gaza in international waters.The abductions were widely condemned, with the foreign ministers of 10 countries, including Spain, Brazil and India, slamming Israeli forces’ actions as “blatant violations of international law and international humanitarian law”. Israel’s treatment of the activists has since been condemned by more countries, including several key allies.The criticism comes after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video on X on Wednesday of him taunting activists who were kneeling on the floor with their hands tied behind their backs.In response, several nations, including France, Canada, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, summoned the Israeli ambassadors to their capitals to express their outrage. Meanwhile, European Council President Antonio Costa said he was “appalled” by Ben-Gvir’s behaviour, calling it “completely unacceptable”.