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Arab-Islamic states condemn Israeli minister Ben-Gvir over Gaza flotilla detention

By Thomson Reuters May 24, 2026 | 1:35 PM

May 24 (Reuters) – The foreign ministers of the Group of Eight Arab-Islamic states on ​Sunday strongly condemned the ‌actions of far-right Israeli police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir towards participants in the Gaza-bound flotilla while they ‌were ​in Israeli detention.

Governments ⁠have 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.

The eight nations, which include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab ⁠Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan, said in a statement: “Ben-Gvir’s deliberate public humiliation ⁠of ‌detainees is 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.”

(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Edmund Klamann)