Deported flotilla activists allege 'sadistic' sexual abuse and torture in Israeli captivity

Deported flotilla activists allege 'sadistic' sexual abuse and torture in Israeli captivity Submitted by MEE staff on Fri, 05/22/2026 - 09:43 Activists report being stripped, 'water-tortured' and dragged along the ground with bound hands and feet Italian flotilla activists gesture upon arrival at Fiumicino Airport in Italy after being deported from Israel on Thursday (Remo Casilli/Reuters) Off Flotilla activists who were abducted and jailed by Israeli authorities while in international waters have reported being subjected to sexual abuse and torture while in Israeli captivity. Some 430 activists, who were held after Israeli forces raided the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla , were deported to Istanbul on Thursday evening.  Footage showed activists arriving at airports clad in grey prison tracksuits and keffiyehs with their fists raised, as families and supporters greeted them. Upon arrival the activists reported being fired at with rubber bullets, beaten and subjected to sexual assault while in Israeli custody. Italian journalist Alessandro Mantovani, who is among the deportees, told reporters at Rome’s Fiumicino airport that he and others were“taken to Ben Gurion airport in handcuffs and with chains on our feet and put on a flight to Athens”. He said that Israeli soldiers “beat us up. They kicked us and punched us and shouted ‘Welcome to Israel’.” Miriam Azem, from the Israeli rights group Adalah, reported that one of the activists “was forced to strip naked and run while guards were laughing”. One activist said in a video interview that her hands and feet were bound as she was dragged by Israeli soldiers, adding that the cuffs were so tight that “my hands lost fee...

Original source: Middle East Eye