Activists detained while attempting to reach Gaza by sea have accused Israeli authorities of abuse and humiliation during their detention, following the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Israeli forces detained around 450 people when they stopped the 42-boat flotilla between Wednesday and Friday. The fleet had been attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade and deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza, where famine conditions persist. Many detainees remain imprisoned in Israel.
Italian journalist Saverio Tommasi said Israeli soldiers confiscated medicines and treated detainees “like monkeys.” On his return to Rome late Saturday, he described the treatment as “torture” and “a denial of even the most basic human rights,” adding that even elderly and ill prisoners were deprived of essential medication.
Among those arrested were Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela, and several European lawmakers. Tommasi said Thunberg was humiliated by Israeli forces, who tied her hands and mocked her with an Israeli flag.
Another Italian journalist, Lorenzo D’Agostino, said prisoners were deprived of sleep, intimidated with dogs, and threatened with weapons. “I felt I was being held by a terrorist organization,” he said after arriving in Istanbul with more than 130 other activists released by Israel. He also accused Israeli authorities of stealing his belongings.
Activist Paolo De Montis described being packed tightly into a prison van with his hands bound, enduring “constant stress and humiliation.”
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir defended the treatment, saying he was “proud” of how prison staff handled the detainees, calling them “supporters of terrorism.” He said they “deserved the conditions of terrorists” and should “think twice before approaching Israel again.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations as “brazen lies,” saying detainees’ legal rights were “fully upheld” and that Thunberg made no complaints because “they never occurred.”
Governments including Turkey, Colombia, and Pakistan condemned the arrests, while Greece lodged a formal protest against what it described as “unacceptable behavior” by an Israeli minister.
The flotilla’s interception sparked widespread protests in major cities across the world.