A rare public rebuke of Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir by US Ambassador Mike Huckabee has highlighted growing international condemnation over the treatment of Gaza flotilla activists, even as Washington continues sanctioning Palestinian groups and organisers.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has become the first official from the administration of President Donald Trump to join global criticism of Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

But as several countries summoned Israel’s ambassadors after Ben-Gvir posted a video of himself taunting abducted foreign activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Huckabee’s response rang largely hollow, coming a day after the US Department of the Treasury had sanctioned the flotilla organisers.

It was the latest incident underscoring a US double standard towards Israel, Palestinians and their supporters, analysts said, and one that showed the US and Israel increasingly out of step with the international community.

“We see a big difference between the US and other Western countries… who see things like freedom of navigation in international waters as a fundamental concept of international law that should be respected, not to mention the mistreatment of civilians,” said Michael Omer-Man, the Israel-Palestine director at the DAWN advocacy group.

Huckabee made his comments on Wednesday, shortly after Italy, France, the Netherlands and Canada summoned Israeli ambassadors over Ben-Gvir’s video, which showed........

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