Pakistan, seven other Muslim states condemn Israeli minister's 'disgraceful' actions against flotilla detainees
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reacts as flotilla activists are detained by Israeli forces in Ashdod Port. Photo: REUTERS
The foreign ministers of Pakistan and seven other Muslim states on Sunday strongly condemned the “appalling, degrading, and unacceptable actions” of Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir towards participants in the Gaza-bound flotilla while they were in Israeli detention.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said that Pakistan, Egypt, Türkiye, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates “strongly condemn the appalling, degrading, and unacceptable actions of extremist Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir against participants in the Gaza-bound flotilla while they were in Israeli detention.”
It added that the ministers stressed that Ben-Gvir’s deliberate public humiliation of detainees was “a disgraceful assault on human dignity and a clear violation of Israel’s obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”
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Joint Statement by Foreign Ministers of the Group of Eight Arab-Islamic States
🔗⬇️ pic.twitter.com/q4GA6mP2W9According to the MOFA, the ministers demanded accountability for Ben-Gvir’s actions and called for concrete measures to end his repeated provocations, incitement and violations, and to ensure that such actions were neither tolerated nor repeated.
“They further stress the imperative of protecting human rights and safeguarding the dignity and humane treatment of all detainees, and ensuring full respect for international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the statement said.
According to Reuters, governments had expressed outrage after Ben-Gvir posted a video in which he taunted activists who were pinned to the ground. Some of the detainees, who had intended to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, later alleged that they were physically assaulted in detention, which Israel's prison service denied.
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The move followed the circulation of footage appearing to show Ben-Gvir, a key ruling coalition partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, walking among detained activists who were kneeling in tightly packed formations with their hands tied behind their backs.
In the footage, Ben-Gvir appears to wave an Israeli flag and taunt detainees.
Earlier, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani requested that EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas place possible sanctions against Ben-Gvir on the agenda of the next meeting of EU foreign ministers.