Israel Security
Gaza Flotilla Activists Testify to Physical Abuse in Israeli Detention, Israeli Rights Group Says
Legal center Adalah says that many of the international activists detained for trying to breach the Israeli blockade of Gaza claim to have been subjected to extreme violence and sexual humiliation, adding that several suffered severe injuries
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Gaza-bound flotilla activists crouch on the floor with their hands tied in zip-bands, on Wednesday. Credit: Screenshot/Itamar Ben-Gvir on X
Nir Hasson
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May 21, 2026Updated:May 20, 2026
An Israeli human rights group said Wednesday that many of the participants of a Gaza-bound flotilla who were detained by Israel reported extreme violence, sexual humiliation and severe injuries at the hands of Israeli forces.
A legal team from Adalah – the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, alongside volunteer lawyers, met with hundreds of flotilla participants upon their detention in Israel and collected testimonies.
According to Adalah, at least three people required hospitalization due to injuries caused by violence of Israeli security personnel and dozens of participants were documented with suspected rib fractures and breathing difficulties as a result.
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Adalah further said that, in addition to the violence used against the activists during the seizure of their boats and their transfer to the port, they were forced to walk in a bent-over position and sit on their knees for extended periods.
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The organization also said participants reported frequent use of tasers, as well as injuries caused by rubber bullets during the takeover of the flotilla vessels. It further said that some of the female participants had their hijabs torn off by the forces.
On Thursday, a correspondent for Italian newspaper Il Fatto, Alessandro Mantovani, who was among those detained and has since returned to Italy, recounted in the paper that Israeli forces fired shots at their boat, and then beat and shackled them.
"The Israeli forces fired several shots at our boat – I don't know what type of bullets – to force us to move to the bow," Mantovani told Il Fatto. "Then, once we were picked up, we were taken by corvette to the second prison ship. There we were chained and handcuffed."
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The journalist continued, "I was stripped, my glasses were thrown away, and I was left in my bathing suit. We were beaten and kicked, even less than the others: I could hear the activists' screams, and someone definitely broke a few ribs."
Italian lawmaker Dario Carotenuto, who also took part in the flotilla, said he was "punched in the eye, which blinded me for a while. But I saw people with ear and eye problems. I heard women reporting sexual violence." The released activists "are very worried about the activists who are still there, and we don't know what they are suffering," he added.
The detainees were transferred from the Ashdod port to the Ketziot prison, from where they are expected to be deported to Turkey on Thursday.
The treatment of the activists by Israeli authorities has sparked worldwide diplomatic backlash, with nearly 10 countries summoning their Israeli ambassadors for clarification and demanding explanations or apologies. International condemnations followed a video shared by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of detained Gaza flotilla activists being bound, dragged and forced to kneel. He can also be seen taunting the activists.
The video drew a rare rebuke of the minister from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials. Netanyahu said, although Israel has every right to stop "provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters," the way Ben-Gvir dealt with the activists was "not in line with Israel's values and norms."
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