Flotilla activists describe beatings, tasers by Israeli forces at Ashdod

Activists detained during Israel's interception of a 50-boat humanitarian flotilla described being beaten, tasered and subjected to degrading treatment by Israeli military personnel at Ashdod port before their deportation Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

The accounts from several of the roughly 420 detained and deported activists add to mounting international pressure on Israel over the flotilla raid, which has drawn condemnation from foreign leaders and prompted multiple countries to summon Israeli envoys.

Christopher Boren, an activist from Hawaii, said Israeli soldiers assaulted him the moment he arrived at Ashdod port. "When we got to Ashdod port, I was immediately grabbed by five IDF or police officers," Boren told the AP. "They put my head down and started beating me. One of them had gloves on with hardened plastic and he started punching my face and it swelled shut."

Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian journalist for Il Fatto Quotidiano, described conditions during the transfer from international waters to Israeli military vessels. "During the crossing, we were put on our knees, blindfolded, and told to make sure the blindfold didn't move," Mantovani said, according to the AP. "They repositioned mine 30 times because I kept trying to look around. And there's absolutely no possibility in this situation to say 'I'm a member of parliament' or 'I'm a journalist' — you're dealing with machines that scream and accompany their screaming with physical gestures."

Yiannis Atmatzidis, a Greek activist, described what he called a gauntlet aboard the detention ship at Ashdod. "I was struck with a taser, beaten with punches and kicks, insulted and humiliated," Atmatzidis said, according to the AP. "On the prison ship there was a container that everyone had to pass through. You entered through one door and a group of six or seven people would beat you mercilessly until you emerged from the other side. Every single one of us went through that." He added: "Whenever we told them that circulation was being cut off and our hands were going numb, they showed absolutely no mercy. I do not have the words to describe the brutality and cruelty of these people. It is something I will never forget."

Zeynel Abidin Ozkan, a Turkish flotilla board member, said those who refused to sign documents faced further abuse. "When we refused to sign, they treated us like prisoners, creating a file, taking photos, forcibly handcuffing our hands and feet with iron shackles," Ozkan said, according to the AP. "And then, with the soldiers, dragged us along the ground, surrounded by dogs, releasing the dogs on us, before loading us into prison trucks."

Israel denied the allegations. Zivan Freidin, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prison Service, dismissed the accounts as "false and entirely without factual basis," according to the AP. The denials came amid separate international outrage over Israel's far-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who promoted a video of himself taunting detained activists — footage that prompted multiple countries to summon Israeli envoys.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying approximately 420 activists, journalists and at least one Italian lawmaker, was intercepted in international waters about 250 miles off Israel's coast as it sought to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Detainees said they were denied contact with lawyers, embassy officials and relatives, and that personal belongings including eyeglasses and wallets were discarded by Israeli authorities during detention.

The roughly 420 activists deported from Israel arrived in Turkey on Thursday. The flotilla raid and the treatment of its passengers have intensified a broader international debate over Gaza's humanitarian conditions and the enforcement of Israel's naval blockade.