{"id":18161,"date":"2026-05-22T00:43:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/penny-wong-condemns-israeli-minister-over-shocking-and-unacceptable-treatment-of-flotilla-activists-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T00:43:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:43:40","slug":"penny-wong-condemns-israeli-minister-over-shocking-and-unacceptable-treatment-of-flotilla-activists-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/penny-wong-condemns-israeli-minister-over-shocking-and-unacceptable-treatment-of-flotilla-activists-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Penny Wong condemns Israeli minister over \u2018shocking and unacceptable\u2019 treatment of flotilla activists – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Foreign affairs minister joins condemnation of Itamar Ben-Gvir after Israeli national security minister shares video mocking detainees
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Eleven Australians detained by Israel<\/a> while travelling to Gaza in a humanitarian flotilla were being transported to the airport to be deported from Israel to Turkey on Thursday night.
The movement of those detained came after Australia\u2019s foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, condemned the actions of a far-right Israeli minister who posted a video of himself abusing bound activists captured while trying to sail an aid flotilla to Gaza<\/a>.
Wong joined international condemnation of the footage<\/a>, which shows Israel\u2019s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, waving an Israeli flag and mocking and taunting the detainees.
Among the flotilla detainees were 11 Australian activists who were taken into custody by Israeli forces<\/a> off the coast of Cyprus earlier this week. It was not known if they were present in Ben-Gvir\u2019s video.
Among the Australians is Zack Schofield, whose mother, Joanne Jaworowski, said on Thursday that Zack had committed to a hunger strike.
\u201cThat makes their release even more urgent,\u201d she said. \u201cThis vile conduct toward my son and all the unarmed humanitarian aid workers is unbearable to watch.\u201d
In a statement, Wong said: \u201cThe images we have seen are shocking and unacceptable.\u201d
\u201cWe condemn the actions of Israeli minister Ben-Gvir \u2013 who Australia has sanctioned <\/a>\u2013 and the degrading actions of Israeli authorities towards those detained,\u201d Wong said on Thursday.
\u201cI have asked Australia\u2019s ambassador to Israel to make representations to Israel, reiterating our call for the release of the detained Australians and for Israel to ensure no ill treatment of any detainees and to act in line with international obligations.\u201d
In a post on social media, Wong added: \u201cI have also directed Dfat [the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] to call in Israel\u2019s ambassador to Australia [Hillel Newman] <\/em>to reinforce this message.\u201d
In the video, dozens of men and women are seen kneeling in rows, with their foreheads to the ground and their hands zip-tied behind their backs.
Ben-Gvir waved an Israeli flag and shouted \u201cwelcome to Israel, we are the landlords\u201d.
\u201cI tell prime minister Netanhyahu give them to me for much more time. Give them to us for the terrorists\u2019 prisons,\u201d the minister said.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry \u201ccondemned \u2026 Ben-Gvir for his humiliating and disgraceful treatment of a group of overseas anti-Israel activists who had been detained in Israel after attempting to break the blockade\u201d.
\u201cNothing can excuse the appalling behaviour,\u201d the ECAJ president, Daniel Aghion, said.
He argued the group had been engaged in \u201cprovocative action that would benefit Hamas\u201d but said that did \u201cnot in any way justify their mistreatment\u201d.
The Jewish Council of Australia said Australia should go further than sanctions against Ben-Gvir \u2013 imposed in 2025 for inciting violence against Palestinians<\/a> in the West Bank \u2013 and impose country-level sanctions and expel Israel\u2019s ambassador.
Bart Shteinman, the council\u2019s executive officer, said the footage was \u201ca stomach-turning display of cruelty that flies in the face of human dignity\u201d.
\u201cForcing humanitarian volunteers onto their knees while bound and subjected to psychological torment is completely indefensible,\u201d Shteinman said.
\u201cWe stand in solidarity with these courageous activists, including Jewish Australian Annie Mokotow, who risked their safety to challenge the illegal maritime blockade and highlight the horrific deprivation in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, the head of the flotilla\u2019s Australian delegation, Simon Jones, called on the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to join that international condemnation.
Jones said the government could send Newman home. \u201cOur reaction to watching healthy, bright, brave, peaceful humanitarians being harmed in real time pales beside our concern for what occurs off camera,\u201d he said.
Rights group Adalah has reported <\/a>\u201csystemic violations of due process and widespread physical and psychological abuse by Israeli authorities\u201d.
Adalah reported dozens of people with suspected broken ribs<\/a>, while three activists were taken to hospital before being released.
The group alleged women had hijabs ripped off, and there was \u201cextreme violence\u201d on flotilla vessels and during the transfer to port, as well as sexual harassment and humiliation.
A lawyer for the Australians, Bernadette Zaydan, said their families were still in the dark about their loved ones\u2019 welfare and any potential injuries. The activists were due to appear before a tribunal.
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, described Ben-Gvir\u2019s behaviour as \u201cdespicable\u201d and said the minister had \u201cbetrayed the dignity of his nation\u201d after the video was published on his social media account with the caption: \u201cWelcome to Israel.\u201d
The Israeli ambassador to the US claimed Ben-Gvir\u2019s \u201creckless grandstanding\u201d was not representative of government policy.
\u201cBen-Gvir\u2019s antics take a sledgehammer to our diplomatic efforts while Israel\u2019s enemies gleefully jump on every unfortunate nonsense to discredit and demonise,\u201d ambassador Yechiel Leiter said.
The detained Australians are academics, doctors, students, activists and film-makers, including Dr Bianca Pullman-Webb, Neve O\u2019Connor, Violet Coco, Gemma O\u2019Toole, Sam Woripa Watson, Zack Schofield, Helen O\u2019Sullivan, Juliet Lamont, Isla Lamont and Surya McEwan and Mokotow.
On Tuesday, four of their parents and loved ones held a press conference in Melbourne where O\u2019Toole\u2019s mother, Suzie O\u2019Toole, said she was \u201cterrified\u201d for the 23-year-old\u2019s wellbeing.
The Australian government was seeking to meet the detainees.
Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, raised concerns about Israel\u2019s actions. He said that while a naval blockade was a legitimate naval warfare act during an armed conflict, there was \u201cno legal basis under international law\u201d for Israel to enforce a blockade off the coast of Cyprus.
He said this was because there was no international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, despite Israel\u2019s position that a blockade was legitimate due to the threat posed by Hamas.
\u201cThe IDF conduct is an example of extraterritorial law enforcement of Israel\u2019s blockade within the maritime zone of Cyprus or on the high seas, which is a violation of the freedom of navigation which the vessels that make up the Global Sumud Flotilla enjoy,\u201d Rothwell said.
\u201cFor Australia, interference with the freedom of navigation has been a constant concern in the South China Sea, and more recently in the Strait of Hormuz. It should likewise be a cause for concern in the Mediterranean.\u201d
Rothwell noted that, under international law, an exception to a blockade exists for the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilian population of the blockaded state.
Australian flotilla spokesperson Subhi Awad pushed back at Israel\u2019s claim that the flotilla was not intending to deliver aid to Gaza.
\u201cThe flotilla did obtain, load and carry aid. We recorded ourselves doing so,\u201d he said.
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source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foreign affairs minister joins condemnation of Itamar Ben-Gvir after Israeli national security minister shares video mocking detaineesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastEleven Australians detained by Israel while travelling to Gaza in a humanitarian flotilla were being transported to the airport to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}