Gaza flotilla activists faced ‘humiliation, violence’ by Israel: Rights group

Gaza flotilla activists faced ‘humiliation, violence’ by Israel: Rights group

‘What happened was another attempt to criminalize and punish humanitarian activists who are trying to express solidarity and send humanitarian aid to Gaza,’ attorney Hadeel Abu Saleh says

Abdel Raouf Arnaout

21 May 2026•Update: 21 May 2026

JERUSALEM

Activists from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla were subjected to “humiliation and violence” by Israeli authorities after an attack on the convoy in international water, an attorney with Israeli rights group Adalah said Thursday.

Hadeel Abu Saleh told reporters outside the Israeli Magistrate’s Court in the southern city of Ashkelon that the activists gave testimonies that included “forcing women activists to remove their hijabs and keeping activists in painful positions.”

She said some activists were wounded, with several believed to have suffered injuries to their ribs and other parts of the body.

Videos published by activists showed some were hit with rubber bullets fired by the Israeli navy, she added.

Abu Saleh accused Israeli authorities of trying to “humiliate the activists and use violence against them,” referring to a video published on social media by ruling coalition partner and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Such practices “are known by Israeli authorities,” she said, adding that they are also used by Israel against Palestinian prisoners.

“What happened was another attempt to criminalize and punish humanitarian activists who are trying to express solidarity and send humanitarian aid to Gaza,” Abu Saleh said.

Abu Saleh represented Global Sumud Flotilla activist Zohar Regev, who holds Israeli citizenship, before the Ashkelon court as Tel Aviv began deporting the rest of the activists through Ramon Airport in southern Israel.

She said Israeli police sought Regev’s release under conditions, including barring her from entering Gaza for 140 days and requiring her to appear for questioning upon request.

The defense team asked the court to cancel all conditions and release her without restrictions.

Regev “was arrested in international waters in violation of international law and also Israeli law,” Abu Saleh said.

“The court did not approve all of the Israeli police conditions, but decided to release her while barring her from entering Gaza for two months,” she added.

According to the flotilla organizers, the Israeli army attacked all of the flotilla’s roughly 50 boats, which carried 428 activists from 44 countries, including 78 Turkish citizens.

The Israeli attack drew a wide wave of condemnations from countries and rights groups, including Amnesty International.

Israel has seized aid boats heading to Gaza in international waters several times before, including vessels linked to Sumud flotilla campaigns, detaining activists before later deporting them.

About 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza face catastrophic humanitarian conditions that have worsened under Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023. The war has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded over 172,000 others, most of them women and children.

Despite a ceasefire announced Oct. 10, 2025, Israel continues the genocide by restricting the entry of humanitarian aid, medicine and medical supplies, and through daily attacks that have killed 883 Palestinians and wounded 2,648 others.

*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul

===
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-896979

Israeli flotilla activist released under conditions as foreign participants deported
An Ashkelon court barred Zohar Regev from entering Gaza for 60 days after police sought a 184-day ban.Israeli activist Zohar Chamberlain Regev (L, born and raised in Kibbutz Kfar Hahoresh near Nazareth), member of a flotilla bound for Gaza and one of dozens of activists that were detained when the flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces, arrives at a court in Ashkelon, Israel on May 21, 2026.(photo credit: Jack GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

BySARAH BEN-NUNMAY 21, 2026

The Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court ordered the release of Israeli flotilla activist Zohar Regev on Thursday under conditions, as hundreds of foreign participants detained after Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla and Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessels were deported from the country.

Regev, the only Israeli citizen detained in the latest flotilla case, was released after signing a NIS 5,000 self-guarantee, agreeing to report to police on demand, and being barred from entering Gaza for 60 days.

Police had initially sought harsher conditions, including a NIS 5,000 deposit and a 184-day ban on entering Gaza, until November 20, 2026.

Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which represented Regev and the foreign flotilla participants, said earlier Thursday that it had received confirmation from the Israel Prison Service and state officials that all international GSF and FFC activists had been released from Ktziot and were en route to deportation, most through Ramon Airport.

The Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that all foreign activists had been deported after the Navy intercepted the Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters and brought the participants to Israel. Israeli officials said the flotilla was attempting to breach the naval blockade on Gaza, while organizers said they were seeking to deliver humanitarian aid and challenge the blockade.

Israeli soldiers seen on a vessel belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla as seen from Ashdod, May 19, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/Amir Cohen TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Earlier in the week, some 430 activists had been transferred to Israeli vessels and brought toward Israel, where they were to meet consular representatives. The Foreign Ministry called the flotilla “nothing more than a PR stunt at the service of Hamas” and said Israel would continue to act under international law to prevent breaches of the blockade.

The flotilla included dozens of vessels and hundreds of activists, with the last ships intercepted west of Cyprus and later north of Port Said.

Israeli activist handled differently from foreigners

Regev’s case was handled separately because she is an Israeli citizen. According to the police request filed with the court, she was arrested in connection with a flotilla “planned to reach the Gaza Strip,” with police listing the suspected offense as “infiltration” under the Prevention of Infiltration Law. The request also marked obstruction of investigative proceedings and danger to public security as the grounds for arrest.



At Thursday’s hearing, however, the state representative clarified that the more accurate suspicion was attempted infiltration, not completed infiltration. He also confirmed that Regev had been arrested in international waters.

Police told the court they wanted Regev released under restrictions, including the NIS 5,000 self-guarantee, a NIS 5,000 deposit, reporting to police on demand, and the 184-day Gaza-entry ban.

Regev’s attorney, Hadeel Abu Saleh, opposed the conditions and argued that the arrest itself was unlawful. She told the court that Regev was an Israeli citizen living abroad, that she had been detained at gunpoint in international waters, and that the vessel was registered in Poland.

Abu Saleh also argued that Israeli authorities could not impose restrictions based on an arrest she said was carried out without proper authority. She said Regev had been on hunger strike since her arrest and claimed she had been mistreated in detention, including over her hijab.

The hearing also exposed problems in the police filing. The state representative acknowledged that the request submitted to the court may have been flawed after the defense pointed out inconsistencies between the police’s stated reasons for the arrest and their description of where the alleged offense occurred.

Judge Talmor Peres criticized the police filing, saying the investigating unit should have been more precise. She said the main concern in the case was alleged dangerousness rather than obstruction of the investigation, and that the court’s authority to hear the case stemmed from the location of the investigating unit, not from the place where the alleged offense occurred.
Judge finds reasonable suspicion in case

Still, after reviewing the investigative material, Peres found reasonable suspicion that Regev had committed the offenses in question.

The judge ordered Regev released under conditions lighter than those requested by police: a NIS 5,000 self-guarantee, reporting to police on demand, and a 60-day ban on entering Gaza.

Peres said the conditions were slightly harsher than those imposed in a previous case involving Regev, citing the wartime context and saying that, according to the allegations, Regev had made repeated attempts to commit similar offenses.

A separate court document showed Regev signed the NIS 5,000 self-undertaking later Thursday.

The case unfolded amid mounting international criticism over Israel’s handling of the detained activists, after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir published footage from Ashdod showing detainees kneeling with their hands zip-tied. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked Ben-Gvir’s conduct while defending Israel’s right to prevent the flotilla from breaching the blockade.