Some 450 people were arrested while trying to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, of which 137 were already deported. “I felt that I was being held by a terrorist organization,” said an Italian journalist who returned to Rome.
Some of the activists traveling in the Sumud Global Fleet They denounced that they suffered abuses and humiliations during their detention in Israel, Including “verbal and psychological violence”, an accusation that the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs described as “shameless lies.” Meanwhile, 137 activists from different countries returned to Türkiye, in what was the first batch of release after intercepting the cargo with humanitarian aid in international waters.
The fleet, composed of 42 ships with crew of different nationalities, was intercepted by Israel on Wednesday, October 1 while trying to break the maritime block to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces arrested 450 people among whom there were Argentines.
Sumud Flotilla activists denounced abuses from Israel’s forces after being arrested
After staying several days detained in Ketziot prison, 137 activists from 13 countries were deported this Saturday and sent to Istanbul, in Türkiye, from where they left for their cities of origin. A group of Italians who arrived hours later in Rome denounced that the Israeli forces were treated “as monkeys.”
“This is called torture, a denial of human rights, even the most basic,” The journalist Saverio Tommasi affirmed to the AP agency. “They took everyone’s medicines: people with heart disease, asthma, even an 86 -year -old man took his inhaler,” he said.
He also confirmed the versions of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on alleged abuse against the young activist Greta Thunberg. “We saw her in the port, in that case with the arms tied and an Israeli flag next to her, just a mockery,” he said. “Let’s say that mockery was part of the verbal and psychological violence that they always carried out, to degrade, ridicule and laugh in situations where there is nothing to laugh,” he said.
Another Italian journalist, Lorenzo D’Agostino, added that the Israeli soldiers woke them repeatedly during the two nights that passed in prison, in addition to using dogs and weapons with laser views “to scare us.” “In general, I felt that I was being held by a terrorist organization,” affirmed.
For his part, activist Paolo de Montis said he was overcrowded in a truck for hours, with his hands tied and subjected to “constant stress and humiliation.” “You didn’t allow you to look at your face, you always had to keep your head down,” he said.
The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied “the accusations about the abuse of Greta Thunberg and other detainees of the Hamás-Sumud flotilla” and He assured that these are “shameless lies”, since “all the legal rights of detainees are fully respected.”
“Interestingly, Greta herself and other detainees refused to accelerate her deportation and insisted on prolonging her stay in custody. Greta also did not complain to the Israeli authorities of any of these ridiculous and without foundation accusations, because they never happened,” he said in X.
“I am proud that we treat the ‘flotilla activists’ as supporters of terrorism. Anyone who supports terrorism is a terrorist and deserves the conditions of the terrorists, “ The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said in a statement.
“If any of them thought it would come here and receive a red carpet and trumpets, they were wrong. They should feel the conditions in Ketziot’s prison well and think twice before approaching Israel again,” he warned. Arrests caused criticism from several governments, including Greece, Türkiye, Colombia and Pakistan.
Source: Ambito
