Follow-ups - FiMED

Public prosecutors in the Italian capital, Rome, have announced an investigation into allegations that Italian activists who took part in two maritime missions to break the siege on the Gaza Strip were tortured, kidnapped and ill-treated. The investigation names Israeli War Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, along with military, security and prison officials, according to "Yedioth Ahronoth".

The investigation follows complaints filed by 50 Italian citizens who said they were subjected to abuses after being detained during two Global Sumud Flotilla missions, the first in October 2025 and the second in May 2026.

Beatings, death threats and degrading treatment

According to the Italian news agency ANSA, the complaints include allegations of torture, kidnapping and boarding of vessels in violation of international law, and theft, as well as poor detention conditions, degrading treatment and violations of fundamental rights, including the right to a lawyer.

Participants in the first mission reported being beaten, injured, threatened with death and insulted, as well as accused of terrorism. Participants in the second mission said they were subjected to harsher treatment, including beatings in the dark and the use of electric shock devices and rubber bullets, according to the newspaper.

Alongside Katz, Ben-Gvir and Zamir, the list of officials named in the investigation includes former Israeli Navy commander David Saar Salama and his successor Eyal Harel, a number of senior naval officers and members of the naval commando unit «Shayetet 13», as well as Israeli Police Commissioner Daniel Levy, Israel Prisons Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi, and officials in charge of prisons, detainee escort units and the border police.

Ben-Gvir at the heart of the controversy

Ben-Gvir's handling of detained flotilla activists had sparked protests in Italy, prompting Rome to summon the Israeli ambassador in protest. A video clip the minister himself published at Ashdod port showed him confronting detained activists, including Italians, who were handcuffed, blindfolded and kneeling with their heads to the ground.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella condemned the scene at the time, saying Ben-Gvir had reached «a new level of degradation», according to the newspaper.

Last June, Ben-Gvir denied reports that he was under investigation in Rome, saying he would continue to stand «proudly alongside our fighters». Katz and Zamir have made no public comment on the investigation, according to the report, while Reuters said Katz did not respond to a request for comment.

Request for judicial cooperation and European coordination

According to Reuters, the Rome prosecutors' office sent Israel a request for legal assistance in June, aimed at obtaining information to help reconstruct the facts and determine the individual responsibility of those involved in the operations. The prosecutors have not announced whether the Israeli authorities responded to the request.

Italian prosecutors also discussed the file with the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, Eurojust, amid similar investigations into the two incidents in other European countries whose names were not specified.

Italian law allows prosecutors to pursue crimes suspected of being committed abroad if they target Italian citizens, but the appearance of officials' names in an investigation file does not mean they have been convicted or formally charged; the move to trial depends on the outcome of the investigation and a decision by the prosecution to file a formal request to commit them for trial.