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ISTANBUL: International activists who arrived in Istanbul after being deported from Israel following the military’s interception of their Gaza-bound flotilla said on Saturday they had been subjected to violence and “treated like animals.”

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month seeking to ferry aid to war-battered Gaza, but Israel blocked the boats, detaining more than 400 people whom it began deporting on Friday. Of that number, 137 activists from 13 countries arrived in Istanbul on Saturday, including 36 Turkish nationals.
“A huge number of military vessels intercepted us,” Paolo Romano, a regional councillor from Lombardy in Italy, said at Istanbul airport.
“Some boats were also hit by water cannon. All of the boats were taken by very heavily armed people and brought to shore,” the 29-year-old said.
“They put us on our knees, facing down. And if we moved, they hit us. They were laughing at us, insulting us, and hitting us,” he said.
“They were using both psychological and physical violence.”
Among those on board the flotilla, which counted some 45 vessels, were politicians and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
Romano said they tried to force them to admit they had entered Israel illegally.
“But we never entered Israel illegally. We were in international waters, and it was our right to be there.”
On landing, they were taken to a prison and held there without being allowed out, and were not given bottled water, he said.
“They were opening the door during the night and shouting at us with guns to scare us,” he said.
“We were treated like animals.”
Iylia Balqis, a 28-year-old activist from Malaysia, said Israel’s interception of the boats was “the worst experience.”
“We were handcuffed (with hands behind our backs), we couldn’t walk, some of us were made to lie face down on the ground, and then we were denied water, and some of us were denied medicine,” she said.
The activists were flown to Istanbul on a specially chartered Turkish Airlines plane.
In a post on X, the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed “137 more provocateurs of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla were deported today to Turkiye.”
Relatives of the Turkish activists could be seen awaiting their arrival at the VIP lounge inside Istanbul airport, waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and chanting “Israel murderer.”
The Turkish activists were to undergo medical checks on arrival and would appear in court on Sunday to give testimony, their lawyers said.
Turkiye has denounced Israel’s interception of the flotilla as “an act of terrorism,” saying on Thursday it had opened an investigation.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan praised the activists as “brave individuals who gave voice to humanity’s conscience” in a post on X and stated that Ankara would ensure all of its nationals were brought back, without providing an overall number.
Italian journalist Lorenzo D’Agostino, who was on board the flotilla to cover its mission, said they “were kidnapped in international waters when we were 88 km from Gaza.”
“It was two hellish days that we spent in prison. We are out now thanks to the pressure of the international public that supports Palestine,” he said.
“I really hope this situation ends soon because it has been barbaric the way we have been treated.”
Libyan activist Malik Qutait said he was not afraid and vowed to keep trying to reach Gaza.
“I will collect my group, arrange medicine, aid and a ship and I will try again,” he said.

LONDON: Greta Thunberg has told Swedish officials she is being subjected to harsh treatment while in Israeli custody following her detention aboard a Gaza aid flotilla, .

In correspondence seen by the British newspaper and published on Saturday, the Swedish climate activist said she was being held in a cell “infested with bedbugs” and given too little food and water.

An email from the Swedish foreign ministry said embassy officials had been in contact with Greta, the report said.

“She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food,” it said.

“She also stated that she had developed rashes which she suspects were caused by bedbugs. She spoke of harsh treatment and said she had been sitting for long periods on hard surfaces.”

The email, sent by the ministry to people close to Thunberg, said: “Another detainee reportedly told another embassy that they had seen her (Thunberg) being forced to hold flags while pictures were taken. She wondered whether images of her had been distributed.”

The email said Thunberg had also been asked by Israeli authorities to sign a document.

“She expressed uncertainty about what the document meant and did not want to sign anything she did not understand,” it said, adding that she had had access to legal counsel.

Thunberg is one of 437 people detained as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a coalition of more than 40 vessels that sought to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza.

Israeli forces intercepted the boats and detained their crews on Thursday night and into Friday morning. Most are reportedly being held at Ketziot, a high-security prison in the Negev desert used primarily for Palestinian prisoners.

According to The Guardian, lawyers from the nongovernmental organization Adalah said the rights of the detainees had been “systematically violated” and that they had been denied water, sanitation, medication and immediate access to their legal representatives “in clear breach of their fundamental rights to due process, impartial trial and legal representation.”

The Italian legal team representing the flotilla said detainees had been left “for hours without food or water — until late last night,” except for “a packet of crisps handed to Greta and shown to the cameras.”

Lawyers also reported instances of verbal and physical abuse.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was filmed on Thursday night during a visit to Ashdod port calling the activists “terrorists” as they sat on the ground.

“These are the terrorists of the flotilla,” he said in Hebrew, according to the report.

A spokesperson for Ben-Gvir, who has previously called for flotilla participants to be jailed rather than deported, confirmed the video was filmed at the port. Some activists could be heard shouting: “Free Palestine” in the clip.

Adalah said in an earlier statement that repeat participants in flotilla missions were typically treated the same as first-time activists, facing short-term detention and deportation rather than prosecution.

The Guardian said it had contacted the Israel Prison Service, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Foreign Ministry for comment, but none had responded.