Taoiseach 'appalled' by Israeli minister's video showing Gaza flotilla activists with hands bound

20 May 2026, 17:45 by Jane Moore, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/jane-moore/ · TheJournal.ie

LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago

TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said he is “appalled” by video footage posted by Israel’s national security minister that shows detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground.

Martin said the Israeli government’s actions are in breach of international law and that he will raise the issue at EU level.

The video, shared on X by Itamar Ben Gvir, was published after Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla’s vessels at sea and began detaining hundreds of foreign activists at the southern port of Ashdod.

The Global Sumud Flotilla said all of its vessels were intercepted in the Mediterranean, with those on board being forcibly detained by Israeli naval forces.

Israel said 430 activists were taken from the vessels and that “another PR flotilla has come to an end”.

Captioned “Welcome to Israel”, the footage posted by Ben Gvir shows dozens of activists on the deck of a military boat kneeling with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground with the Israeli national anthem playing in the background.

It also shows Ben Gvir heckling and waving an Israeli flag amongst the detained activists.

At the start of the video, Irish citizen Catriona Graham is pulled to the ground after saying “free Palestine”.

“This is how our citizens are being treated by Israel, having been abducted in international waters, trafficked to a third state and now experiencing humiliation, stress positions, aggression and violence,” said People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy.

Meanwhile, Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson said the footage, particularly that of “Catriona Graham being abused in Israeli detention is horrifying and outrageous”.

“If this is the abuse meted out to detained Western members of a flotilla in public, I dread to think of the horrors being perpetrated on illegally detained Palestinian prisoners,” added Stephenson.

She described Ben Gvir as a “coward and a bully” and added: “It’s past time the Irish government did more than utter hollow words in response to Israeli aggression.”

Turning point?

Foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee meanwhile said the video showed that those illegally detained are “not in any way being treated with the appropriate dignity or respect”.

She told RTÉ’s Six One News that this should be a “turning point” for how Europe responds to Israel.

“We have to respond to this effectively. It can’t be words at this stage,” she said.

McEntee also said that while Ireland doesn’t have an Israeli ambassador at home, there are diplomats in Israel. She is unsure of where the detainees will be taken next.

“The last time this happened, they were taken to a detention centre a number of hours away. We’re not clear yet whether that will happen or whether they will be released, and whether we will, my embassy and team on the ground, be able to engage with them directly and get them home,” she said.

The minister said earlier that Ireland’s ambassador to Israel has “demanded immediate assurances that that welfare and wellbeing of all Irish citizens is safeguarded” and that they are released immediately.

Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the minister’s dealing with the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms”.

“I have instructed the relevant authorities to deport the provocateurs (activists) as soon as possible,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also criticised Ben Gvir on X, saying he had “knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display – and not for the first time.”

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni meanwhile slammed as “unacceptable” Israel’s treatment of the activists and called for the immediate release of any detained Italian citizens and demanded an apology from Israel.

This was the latest attempt by activists to breach Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory, with the last convoy intercepted by Israeli forces last month.

Dr Margaret Connolly, the sister of President Catherine Connolly, is among 14 Irish citizens on board the flotilla that was detained by Israel on Monday.

The other Irish citizens detained by Israeli forces have been named as: Colm Byrne, Michael (Mikey) Cullen, Tom Deasy, Cormac O’Daly, Joshua St Leger, Louise McCormack, Catriona Graham, Helena Kearns, Adam Fitzhenry Collier, Luke Mc Menamin, Fra Hughes, and Tara Sheehy.

In a statement, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that “this flotilla has once again proved to be nothing more than a PR stunt at the service of Hamas.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris condemned the detention on Tuesday, with the Fine Gael leader saying Israel was “in breach of international law”.

Shots fired at flotilla boats

In a livestreamed video posted online by the flotilla organisers on Tuesday, shots can be heard as activists stand on a boat with their hands in the air. More shots can be heard as they follow instructions to move to the front of the boat with their hands still raised.