Hamas slams hawkish Zionist minister’s threats against arrested flotilla activists

In a statement released on Friday, the Palestinian group described Ben Gvir’s hostile treatment of the activists as a “stark display of arrogance and a disturbing reflection of the moral and political decay within the Israeli leadership.”

The resistance movement further said that the far-right Israeli minister sought to project an image of triumph over harmless activists, even as his fascist regime faces growing international isolation.

“This calls for global and international condemnation of him and his fascist army’s behavior against our defenseless people, and for pressure on the entity to release them immediately,” the statement read.

Hamas also expressed “pride and admiration for the heroic stance demonstrated by the hundreds of international activists” aboard the seized Global Sumud Flotilla.

Ben-Gvir on Thursday entered a detention site, where hundreds of activists captured on board the Global Sumud Flotilla were held, before calling them “terrorists.”

The Israeli minister also suggested deporting activists from the flotilla would be a mistake, arguing they should instead be jailed for several months.

The jailed activists confronted Ben Gvir and chanted “Free Palestine” in his face during the visit.

The Hamas movement said the activists’ defiance reflected the strength of their convictions and the nobility of the humanitarian message they carried.

Hamas suggested that Ben Gvir should be held accountable for insulting the peaceful international activists.

Zionist regime’s naval forces stopped all ships and boats belonging to the Gaza-bound Flotilla that set sail in August, intending to break the siege of Gaza.

Late on Wednesday, the Zionist regime’s navy began illegally and violently intercepting flotilla vessels as they neared Gaza, detaining activists and taking them to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Zionist regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Israeli military for its unlawful interception of the Sumud Flotilla in international waters.

Massive rallies were held in several European, Asian and Latin American capitals on Friday in support of Palestine and in condemnation of Israel’s aggressive raids on the Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters.

Trump threatened Hamas over his 20-point Gaza plan

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, in a social media post on Friday, said the Palestinian group has until Sunday at 6:00 pm in Washington, DC (22:00 GMT) to respond to his plan.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform. “THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER,” he added in all caps.

Trump threatened the resistance Palestinian group several times in the post, claiming its members “are surrounded and MILITARILY TRAPPED, just waiting for me to give the word, ‘GO,’ for their lives to be quickly extinguished.”

“As for the rest, we know where and who you are, and you will be hunted down and killed. I am asking that all innocent Palestinians immediately leave this area of potentially great future death for safer parts of Gaza. Everyone will be well cared for by those that are waiting to help,” he said.

Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi earlier this week said the group had not yet received Trump’s written Gaza peace plan.

Mardawi said the plan, whose details have been released by American media, is close to the Israeli vision.

Hamas political bureau member Mohammad Nazzal, however, said on Thursday that the Palestinian group will soon announce its position on the US proposal.

Nazzal said Hamas, as a representative of the Palestinian resistance, has a right to express its views “in a way that serves the interests” of the Palestinian people.

“We are not [dealing with the plan] with the logic that time is a sword pointed at our neck,” Nazzal said.

Trump on Monday met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and presented the 20-point peace proposal for Gaza that he said would end Israel’s war there following two years of genocide. 

Trump said the plan includes the release of all Israeli captives within 48 hours, demilitarization of Gaza and a phased withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Gaza.

Trump also referred to the clear opposition of the Israeli prime minister to Palestinian statehood.

Trump emphasized his full support for Tel Aviv, saying he would continue the campaign to make the occupied al-Quds the Israeli capital.

The US president explained the so-called peace plan he had presented to the Muslim and Arab leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said on Friday that Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan was not in line with a draft proposed by a group of Muslim countries.

Zionist regime’s genocidal war on Gaza, ongoing since October 2023, has so far martyred more than 66,000 Palestinians and left more than 167,000 injured.