The primary images of wounds suffered by Gaza flotilla protesters while in Israeli detention have been revealed.
All 50 boats from the GlobalSamud Flotilla sailing to deliver aid to Gaza were detained by Israeli forces on Monday.
Some 428 participants were detained across 40 different countries, and held in detention until their deportation today.
One activist is seen with cuts and bruises on his back as he walks topless through Istanbul airport. He flashes a peace sign as he walks through security.
Italian journalist Alessandro Mantovani, considered one of the activists flown home earlier, said he had been beaten up on arrival in Israeli detention in what he described as a container, calling it a ‘place of terror’.
‘Beat you up means they kicked me within the legs and punched me within the face. These are individuals who know what they’re doing, so I don’t have any major visible marks … They might beat you up and would let you know ‘Welcome to Israel”, he told reporters on arrival at Rome’s Fiumicino airport.
One other Italian activist, Dario Carotenuto, a lawmaker from the 5-Star Movement, said he had been punched in the attention and kicked while detained.
It comes after video, released earlier by Israel, showed protesters handcuffed behind their backs and left to kneel face down on the ground in rows.
Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir will be seen smirking, taunting and telling detained activists they ought to be imprisoned for a really very long time.
One handcuffed Irish woman named by activists as Caitriona Graham shouts ‘Free Palestine’ at Ben Gvir but is taken down quickly along with her head forced to the ground because the minister is ushered away smiling.
After diplomatic intervention led to her being freed she was filmed saying ‘Free Palestine’ again as she hugged one other activist.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said although Israel has every right to stop ‘provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,’ the best way that Ben Gvir handled the flotilla activists ‘will not be according to Israel’s values and norms.’
A spokesperson for the flotilla said there isn’t a legal basis for the arrest of participants attempting to deliver aid.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland said officials ‘are actively monitoring the situation regarding the Global Sumud Flotilla’ and are engaging with the relevant authorities.
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Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry, on X, described the flotilla as a ‘provocation and a seek for publicity’ and claimed there was no aid on board.
It added: ‘The aim of this provocation is to serve Hamas, to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm, and to obstruct progress on President Trump’s peace plan.’
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