{"id":459155,"date":"2026-05-25T13:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T13:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/459155\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T13:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T13:50:09","slug":"australian-gaza-flotilla-activists-accuse-israel-of-sexual-abuse-beatings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/459155\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Gaza Flotilla Activists Accuse Israel of Sexual Abuse, Beatings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian activists detained by Israel after taking part in a flotilla attempting to deliver aid to Gaza returned home this week, with organizers alleging abuse, sexual assault and beatings that reportedly left some detainees hospitalized.<\/p>\n

Israel’s prison service denied the allegations, which Reuters could not independently verify.<\/p>\n

Eleven Australians were among the 430 volunteers aboard 50 boats intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters last week as they attempted to reach the Gaza Strip with aid supplies. Participants in the flotilla came from 40 countries.<\/p>\n

One activist arrived in Melbourne on Sunday evening, while others returned to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane on Monday.<\/p>\n

Juliet Lamont, an Australian activist and documentary filmmaker, told Reuters she was dragged, sexually assaulted and beaten after being detained.<\/p>\n

\"Juliet\"JulietClose<\/p>\n

Juliet Lamont, an Australian member of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli forces, receives a hug as she arrives at Sydney International Airport, Sydney, Australia, May 25, 2026. Credit: REUTERS\/Jeremy Piper <\/p>\n

Juliet Lamont, an Australian member of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli forces, receives a hug as she arrives at Sydney International Airport, Sydney, Australia, May 25, 2026. Credit: REUTERS\/Jeremy Piper <\/p>\n

“That was just the beginning of four days of absolute hell,” Lamont said. “I’ve looked into the eyes of the most soulless people in the universe, and nothing came back. These people need to be stopped.”<\/p>\n

Another Australian activist, Sam Woripa Watson, said he suffered a fractured rib as well as bruises and cuts across his body. Watson also said he witnessed activists being tasered and shot with rubber bullets, while stun grenades were thrown at them.<\/p>\n

Related Articles<\/p>\n

Global Sumud Flotilla, the organizers of the aid convoy, said it documented at least 15 cases of sexual abuse<\/a>. The group said the most severe incidents occurred aboard an Israeli landing craft that had been converted into a makeshift prison using barbed wire and shipping containers.<\/p>\n

The statement came after Israel’s prison service issued a blanket denial <\/a>of allegations of mistreatment, rape and sexual assault.<\/p>\n

The allegations have added to growing international pressure on Israel following the publication of a video by far-right National Security Minister <\/a>Itamar Ben-Gvir in which he taunted activists who were restrained on the ground, drawing widespread condemnation.<\/p>\n

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the footage as “shocking and unacceptable.” Australia imposed travel bans and financial sanctions on Ben-Gvir last year over accusations he incited violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian activists detained by Israel after taking part in a flotilla attempting to deliver aid to Gaza returned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6609,1155,85,46,838,12580,43],"class_list":["post-459155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-gaza-flotilla","tag-human-rights","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-israel-prison-service","tag-israel-war-crimes","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}