Italy launches probe against Israeli defense minister

Israel Katz is being investigated over the alleged abuse of activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office has said

Italy has expended its probe into the alleged torture and sexual abuse of activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla by Israel’s security forces to include Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and twelve other high-ranking military, police and prison officials, the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office has said.

Israel intercepted dozens of yachts in international waters and arrested more than 800 volunteers from various countries in October 2025 and May 2026, who were attempting to break West Jerusalem’s naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave. They were held for days before being deported.

The investigation was launched by Rome earlier this year after some 50 Italian nationals, who were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla missions, complained about being mistreated in Israeli detention, among other things reporting at least 15 cases of sexual abuse and rape. The probe had initially beeen centered on the country’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. A similar inquiry was initiated by France.

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The Rome prosecutor's office said in a statement on Friday that the case against the Israeli officials concerns suspected torture, kidnapping, personal injury, robbery and damage.

The activists detained after the 2025 mission reported beatings, injuries, death threats, insults and accusations of terrorism, the statement read. The participants of the second mission claimed to have been subject to even harsher treatment by Israeli security forces, including beatings in the dark and the use of tasers and rubber bullets, it added.

Prosecutors said they had sent a request for judicial assistance in the investigation to Israel in June, but it remains unclear if they received a response from West Jerusalem.

Italian law allows crimes committed abroad against Italian citizens to be prosecuted by Rome. If the probe finds the charges warranted, the country could formally request a trial of the Israeli officials.

Katz and Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir, who is now also under investigation, haven’t yet commented on the development. Ben-Gvir brushed off the Italian probe in June, saying that he would “continue to stand proudly alongside our fighters.”

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West Jerusalem has repeatedly rejected accusations of mistreating the activists and described the flotilla missions as political provocations designed to aid the Palestinian armed group Hamas. The Israeli prison service said that the detainees were held “in accordance with the law, with full regard for their basic rights.”

Israel claims the blockade of Gaza is necessary to prevent weapons from getting into the enclave. It also denies withholding supplies for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, almost 2 million of whom have been displaced since the outbreak of the conflict in October 2023, according to UN figures.

West Jerusalem sent its forces into Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led incursion in which some 1,200 people lost their lives and 250 others were taken hostage.

Israel’s airstrikes and ground offensive have cost the lives of more than 74,000 Palestinians, including at least 21,000 children, in Gaza over the past three years, the local health ministry has said. Over 1,500 deaths happened despite a US-brokered ceasefire being in effect in the enclave since October 2025.