Australians allege they were abused after IDF intercepted Gaza flotilla and Itamar Ben-Gvir taunted them

Australian activists on the Global Sumud flotilla say Israeli forces intercepted boats carrying food and aid to Gaza and subjected many detainees to severe abuse. An activist described watching an Irish woman being zip-tied, dragged through a processing area, and taken onto a prison bus. Coordinators say many of the 428 members received brutal treatment, with injuries ranging from bruises and torn skin to broken bones, and that all Australians needed first aid. Detainees allege torture, sexual assault, beatings, and non-lethal shooting, while the Israeli ambassador rejects claims of violence and sexual abuse and says no one was harmed. An Australian filmmaker alleges sexual assault and beatings on a prison boat, and says soldiers left people with broken bones and used Tasers and sedation.

"Australian Zack Schofield watched, powerless, as Israeli soldiers beat his fellow flotilla activist, an Irish woman, to the ground after she was filmed shouting free Palestine at Israel's national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Her hands [and] feet were zip-tied together, and then she was dragged around the rest of the processing centre, before she was taken into a prison bus, Schofield says from Istanbul after the activists were deported from Israel."

"Schofield says many of the Global Sumud flotilla's 428 members were treated brutally after the Israel Defense Forces intercepted their boats sailing from Turkey to deliver food and aid to Gaza. Many people received similar or worse treatment for much less, the climate action organiser from Sydney says. There's no consistency to the violence. It was really at the whim of whichever guard was in front of you. A very planned campaign of violence' Eleven Australians were among those detained by the IDF earlier this week."

"The detainees allege they endured torture, sexual assault, beatings and non-lethal shooting. The Israeli ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, has claimed that the detained flotilla members were handled with great sensitivity. He rejected claims of violence and sexual abuse. Out of the 400-plus people that were on the flotilla, no one was harmed, he told the ABC on Thursday. All of the Australian activists needed first aid after their detention, and three were taken to hospital in Turkey, flotilla coordinators say."

"Juliet Lamont, an Australian filmmaker, told reporters in Turkey that Israeli soldiers had sexually assaulted and beaten her. She says soldiers had beaten 180 people on her prison boat, leaving at least 40 with broken bones, while others were Tasered and sedated. We were tortured, Lamont alleges. She travelled on another flotilla in October 2025 and claimed she was sexually assaulted then."

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