Canada and the Netherlands summon Israeli ambassadors to their Foreign Ministries

Following Italy and France, Canada and the Netherlands have taken a similar step by summoning their Israeli ambassadors to their Foreign Ministries after a video emerged showing the mistreatment of activists detained by Israel on the Global Sumud Flotilla. Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand stated that the footage shared by Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was extremely concerning and absolutely unacceptable, adding, "We are taking this matter very, very seriously. This is a matter of humane treatment of civilians, and I assure you that we are taking urgent action on this."

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen described the footage as shocking and unacceptable, stating, "This treatment of detainees violates basic human dignity. I have conveyed this issue directly to my Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar and will be summoning the Israeli ambassador."

Terrorist treatment of activists

In the video shared by Ben-Gvir with the note "Welcome to Israel," Israeli police were seen mistreating the activists, who were kept face down on the ground while handcuffed and forced to kneel. The camera captured an activist shouting "Free Palestine" as Ben-Gvir passed by, followed by a harsh intervention by Israeli police against the woman. While waving an Israeli flag over the activists, Ben-Gvir also addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, "Give them to us for a long time, let's throw them into terrorist prisons."

The Israeli military had detained 428 activists from 44 countries on the flotilla, which it began intercepting last Monday. Many countries, including Turkey, Spain, Jordan, Pakistan, Brazil, and Indonesia, condemned Israel's intervention, stating that it was a "violation of international law."