Ben Gvir draws up hardline plan to confront largest humanitarian flotilla seeking to break Gaza blockade

From the Spanish city of Barcelona, the “Global Resilience Flotilla” set sail in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza, while Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir prepared his plan to seize control of the flotilla, arrest those on board for extended periods and confine them in harsh conditions.

According to Sky News Arabia, Ben-Gvir presented the plan to the cabinet on Sunday in the presence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported.

Ben-Gvir said he considered the flotilla “an attempt to undermine Israel’s sovereignty and to support Hamas in Gaza,” adding: “The proposed plan sets out measures that reinforce Israel’s firm position in protecting its borders and ensuring its national security.”

Among the plan’s details are the arrest and detention of all activists on the flotilla in Israel’s Ktzi’ot and Damon prisons, facilities used to detain “terrorists,” under strict conditions typically reserved for security prisoners. Activists would be held for long periods and deprived of privileges such as television, radio and special food.

Ben-Gvir said: “We will not allow individuals who support terrorism to live in luxury. They will face the full consequences of their actions.”

He also proposed confiscating all ships participating in the flotilla and repurposing them for use by Israeli security agencies.

The ships, whose number was not specified but is said to range between 50 and 70, departed the Catalan port “to open a humanitarian corridor and put an end to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people,” according to the initiative’s organizers.

Brazilian activist Tiago Avila told reporters in Barcelona last week: “This will be the largest solidarity mission in history,” saying “it will involve a greater number of people and ships than any previous attempts to reach Gaza.”

Dozens of additional vessels are expected to join from Tunisia and other Mediterranean countries on September 4, along with demonstrations and “simultaneous activities” in 44 countries, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg — a member of the Global Resilience Flotilla steering committee — wrote on Instagram.

Thunberg told Agence France-Presse on Saturday that the ships in this new flotilla heading to the Palestinian territory would seek “to reach Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid and announce the opening of a humanitarian corridor, then bring more aid, thereby finally breaking Israel’s illegal and inhumane blockade of Gaza.”

Activists from several countries will take part in the initiative, along with European lawmakers and figures including former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.