Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) has addressed a series of letters to international institutions and officials, including the European Union, the European Parliament, and the UK Foreign Office, regarding the escalating crimes committed by the Israeli occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the repeated acts of maritime piracy targeting humanitarian aid flotillas in international waters, as well as the documented assaults against international human rights activists.
In its letters, AOHR UK highlighted that on 29th April 2026, Israeli occupation forces carried out an act of piracy in international waters off the coast of Crete, during which they detained 345 activists from 39 countries aboard the Sumoud Flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip. Only weeks later, the Israeli navy repeated the same violation. On 18th May 2026, approximately 250 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza, Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumoud Flotilla, consisting of 54 boats and vessels carrying 428 activists from 44 countries. The flotilla had departed from the Turkish city of Marmaris before all passengers were detained and forcibly transferred onto Israeli military vessels.
AOHR UK’s letters focused particularly on the role of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who not only oversaw the naval interception operations but also deliberately documented and circulated scenes of humiliation through his personal social media accounts. Video footage showed him celebrating while international activists, blindfolded and forced to kneel on the ground, were subjected to degrading and humiliating treatment, in what constituted a blatant and documented violation of international law and international humanitarian law.
AOHR UK further stressed that Ben-Gvir’s conduct extends far beyond these incidents. Since assuming office in late 2022, he has transformed detention facilities into centres of systematic retaliation, where starvation, medical neglect, physical torture, and psychological abuse have become entrenched practices within a documented policy of collective punishment. Ben-Gvir personally raided detention centres disguised in prison guard uniforms to supervise punitive measures against detainees. He has repeatedly published footage showing Palestinian prisoners lying face down on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs while boasting about the harsh conditions imposed upon them.
