Prosecutors in Italy announced on Friday that an inquiry had been opened targeting Defence Minister Israel Katz alongside senior figures from the military, police, and prison services, centred on the handling of activists who took part in the Gaza flotilla. Prosecutors broadened their inquiry, which had until that point centred on national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Allegations of torture, abduction, bodily harm, theft, and property destruction — arising from the boarding of small vessel convoys bound for Gaza during 2025 and 2026 — form the basis of a case now before prosecutors, according to a statement from the Rome public prosecutor's office. Formal complaints lodged by 50 Italian nationals — detained during two separate Global Sumud Flotilla voyages, one spanning September to October 2025 and another covering April to May 2026 — set the inquiry in motion.
No comment from Katz had arrived by the time of publication. Reports of an investigation into his conduct surfaced in June, at which point Ben-Gvir told journalists he had no intention of stepping back from his support for the country's armed forces.
According to the prosecution, those taken into custody following the initial operation described being subjected to physical violence, threats against their lives, verbal abuse, and accusations of involvement in terrorism. Those involved in the second operation described physical force carried out in darkness, along with the deployment of tasers and rubber projectiles, according to the statement.
Prosecutors stated that those directing operations had been traced through both the military and police structures of command, with individual members of each chain identified by the investigation. Prosecutors extended their list of suspects beyond Katz and Ben-Gvir to cover 12 additional figures drawn from the upper ranks of the military, police, and prison services, among them armed forces chief Eyal Zamir. No comment from Zamir had been provided by the time of publication.
A judicial-assistance request directed at Israel — filed in June and aimed at gathering the information needed to reconstruct events and assign individual responsibility — was disclosed by prosecutors. No indication was given as to whether a response had come from Israeli authorities.
Coordination meetings at Eurojust, the European Union's judicial cooperation body, also took place, prosecutors noted, given that parallel inquiries into both flotilla operations were under way across other European countries whose identities were not disclosed.
Italian law extends prosecutorial reach to offences carried out on foreign soil when the victim holds Italian nationality, with proceedings handled by courts in Rome. Under Italian law, an investigative notice carries no presumption of wrongdoing and need not progress to formal court proceedings. Should the investigation find enough grounds to proceed, a formal indictment request could be placed before the court by prosecutors.
Those who organised the flotilla have stated that their purpose was to transport aid into Gaza and, in doing so, challenge the naval restrictions imposed on the territory. The country's naval blockade on Gaza is described by its government as consistent with international law.
