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Armed Border Police officers watch over detained Gaza-bound flotilla activists in a video shared by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Wednesday. Credit: Screenshot/Itamar Ben-Gvir
Armed Border Police officers watch over detained Gaza-bound flotilla activists in a video shared by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Wednesday. Credit: Screenshot/Itamar Ben-Gvir
The Israeli military beat and shackled the activists from the Gaza-bound flotilla, according to Alessandro Mantovani, a correspondent of the Italian newspaper Il Fatto who was among those detained.
“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 said in an article in Il Fatto. “Then, once we were picked up, we were taken by corvette to the second prison ship. There we were chained and handcuffed.”
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.