Probe Targets Katz, Ben Gvir and About a Dozen Officials Over Alleged Torture, Kidnapping and Degrading Treatment.

On Friday, ANSA news agency reported that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office is investigating several Israeli leaders for crimes of torture, kidnapping and “degrading treatment” after the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla missions that were attempting to reach the Gaza Strip.

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The prosecutors’ investigations into two activist missions point to about a dozen Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Specifically, the Prosecutor’s Office is investigating members of the military, police and prison chains of command involved in the naval and land custody operations related to both expeditions.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the naval boardings carried out by Israeli forces violated international law and involved illegal detentions, as well as the violation of fundamental rights of defense and “conditions of detention and degrading treatment” that could constitute crimes of torture and kidnapping.

“They beat us everywhere”, “It was worse than Guantanamo”

Broken clavicles, sexual assault, electric shocks… Members of the Global Sumud Flotilla share shocking accounts of torture by Israeli authorities pic.twitter.com/PKIdCO4SIS

— TRT World (@trtworld) May 22, 2026

The judicial case in Italy began after the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla on Oct. 1, 2025, when the expedition was attempting to approach the coast of Gaza.

Dozens of Italian activists reported after their deportation that they had suffered assaults during the interception in international waters and abuse while they were held in Israeli prisons.

The Rome Prosecutor’s Office later expanded its proceedings and formally included Security Minister Ben Gvir among those under investigation after the circulation of a video recorded at the Port of Ashdod in which he could be seen mocking dozens of activists who were handcuffed and lying under the sun.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

Use of death penalty against people for crimes committed when they were children a ‘new low’, say rights groups

A young man faces imminent execution in Saudi Arabia for attending protests and funerals when he was aged 15 to 17, say human rights groups, in the latest example of the kingdom’s surging use of the death penalty for non-violent crimes.

Youssef al-Manasif was arrested in 2017 and accused of crimes including joining demonstrations for religious freedom by the Shia minority and attending funerals that the Saudi authorities deem to be protests. He was convicted and sentenced to death by the specialised criminal court, a secretive tribunal set up for terrorism-related cases.

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© Photograph: Handout

© Photograph: Handout

© Photograph: Handout