Some of those held say guns were pointed at them, they were threatened with dogs and deprived of sleep
International activists, journalists and lawyers deported from Israel after attempting to breach the 16-year maritime blockade of Gaza as part of a humanitarian flotilla have alleged being subjected to brutal physical and verbal abuse by Israeli forces during their detention.
The alleged abuses included sleep and medication deprivation, beatings, having automatic rifles pointed at their heads, dogs set upon them, having to sleep on the floor, being subjected to insults and being made to watch footage of the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.
“I was beaten from the moment we entered the port until the very end,” said Saverio Tommasi, an Italian journalist. “Blows to my back, blows to my head – and they [the Israeli soldiers] laughed, laughed at all of it. Anyone who failed to keep their eyes down was punished with a hit to the head.”
Israeli forces intercepted all the boats of the Global Sumud flotilla (GSF), carrying more than 400 people including parliamentarians and the environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg, last week. Most of the people were held at Ketziot, a high-security prison in the Negev desert used primarily to detain Palestinians whom Israel accuses of involvement in terrorist activities.
