The first two Italians of the Flotilla will leave Israel late this evening and will return tomorrow morning, Thursday 21 May: they are the M5S parliamentarian Dario Carotenuto and the journalist from Fatto Quotidiano Alessandro Mantovani .
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani made the announcement to journalists at Villa Pamphili, the venue for the bilateral meeting between President Meloni and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The activists detained off the coast of Cyprus have meanwhile arrived at the Israeli port of Ashdod. They are being legally assisted by the NGO Adalah, which wrote in a brief statement: "Our legal team will challenge the legality of these detentions and demand the immediate release of all activists."
They were tied up and dragged into the port , while the Israeli national anthem blared over loudspeakers and masked police officers pushed them to the ground, forcing them to get down on all fours and dragging them across the floor. They were lined up inside a warehouse, forced to kneel with their faces to the ground, their hands tied behind their backs with zip ties .
430 people were arrested, including 30 Italians and two Sardinians, Ilaria Mancosu and Gianfranco Frongia . The former was aboard the vessel Amazon. Frongia, on the other hand, was part of the crew of Last Dream.
Diplomatic sources reported that they will be transferred to Ktziot prison in the Negev desert this evening, where consular representatives from their various countries of origin will begin visits tomorrow morning. The authorities intend to immediately expel those who accept voluntary expulsion, and to enforce forced expulsion within 24 hours for those who do not sign the document .
The minister mocks and threatens
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also visited the port of Ashdod and released a video mocking the activists, who were handcuffed and blindfolded and kneeling: "This is how we welcome supporters of terrorism," he said. He also said: "Welcome to Israel, we are the masters, the people of Israel are alive." Another video shows an activist shouting "Free Palestine" as he is knocked to the ground by a police officer.
Ben-Gvir refuses to release them: "I ask Netanyahu to hand them over to me for a long time; we'll put them in terrorist prisons," he said in another video, further mocking them. "They arrived with great pride, great heroes, and look how they look now. Not heroes or anything else, they're supporters of terrorism."
And there's also a clash within Netanyahu's cabinet over the images released by Ben Gvir: "You are not the face of Israel," Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar attacks him. "With this shameful performance, you have knowingly harmed the country, and this is not the first time. You have undermined the enormous, professional, and successful efforts of so many people, from IDF soldiers to Foreign Ministry employees and many others."
Netanyahu also condemned his minister's actions: "Israel," the prime minister stated, "has every right to prevent provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza. However, Minister Ben Gvir's treatment of the flotilla activists is not in line with Israeli values and norms. I have instructed the relevant authorities to expel the provocateurs as soon as possible ."
Netanyahu also condemned his minister's actions: "Israel," the prime minister stated, "has every right to prevent provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza. However, Minister Ben Gvir's treatment of the flotilla activists is not in line with Israeli values and norms. I have instructed the relevant authorities to expel the provocateurs as soon as possible ."
Mattarella's sentence
This was "uncivilized treatment inflicted on people illegally detained in international waters, reaching the lowest level, by an Israeli government minister." These were the condemnations of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, commenting on the video of the Flotilla activists detained by Israel, which features National Security Minister Ben Gvir.
The Government's Wrath
The scenes, which were shared on social media, also provoked the ire of the Italian government: "The images of Ben Gvir are unacceptable; it is unacceptable that these protesters, many of whom are Italian, are subjected to this treatment that is detrimental to human dignity . The Italian government is immediately taking all necessary steps, at the highest institutional levels, to secure the immediate release of the Italian citizens involved," reads a joint statement by Prime Minister Meloni and Minister Tajani .
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party, the Italian Socialist Party, and the Five Star Movement are calling on the government to "sanction Israel" and "terminate all trade agreements with the most criminal government in the world today."
The hunger strike
Some of the activists, 87 to be precise, have gone on hunger strike. In a post on X, the Flotilla wrote that "the army that calls itself the most moral has kidnapped our comrades in international waters" and urged all governments to "condemn this act of piracy."
In a statement, the Global Sumud Flotilla highlighted the "shameful and reprehensible" treatment reserved for the activists, "kneeling on the ground, tied up, humiliated and displayed like trophies" .
Of the 30 Italian activists detained, in addition to two Spaniards and an American living permanently in Italy, ten had already been detained during previous Flotilla expeditions : seven during the October 2025 boarding, two on April 29, also off the coast of Cyprus, and one who was on both missions. The Italian legal team has filed a new complaint with the Rome prosecutor's office, requesting the activists' immediate release, protection, and guarantees.
(Unioneonline/L)