Sumud Flotilla Activists Return Home Amidst allegations of Mistreatment and israeli Operation Confirmation
Teh Italian participants in the Sumud Flotilla have completed their journey, arriving back in Italy via flights to Milan, Rome, and bologna. However, the ordeal is far from over for the crews detained by Israeli authorities last Wednesday off the coast of Gaza.
A Rome Prosecutor’s Office inquiry has been launched following reports of mistreatment from activists and parliamentarians onboard the vessels. The investigation is currently evaluating the alleged actions, including potential charges of unlawful detention, and may involve interviewing mission participants as informed sources.
Adding to the gravity of the situation, CBS News, citing two American intelligence officials, reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly authorized military operations against two ships within the Flotilla early last month. According to these sources, Israeli forces deployed drones from a submarine on September 8th and 9th, releasing incendiary devices onto boats docked at the Tunisian port of sidi Bou Said, resulting in a fire. Maria Elena delia, spokesperson for the global movement to Gaza, stated, “If all this should be confirmed, it will be added to the shame of those who accused us of being self-taught. We hope that all this data will be taken into consideration by the prosecutors.”
Multiple individuals have publicly accused the Israeli government of mistreatment. Benedetta Scuderi, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) with the Greens, addressed the plenary session in Strasbourg, requesting a debate on the Sumud Flotilla’s situation – a request that was ultimately rejected. Scuderi stated she and approximately 400 others, including fellow parliamentarians, were “taken hostage by the Israeli forces in international waters – seized, searched, deprived of sleep, and subjected to physical attacks.”
Similar accusations come from ada Colau, the former mayor of Barcelona, who was also among those detained and expelled. She described being held in a maximum-security prison “where there is no state of law,” alleging “mistreatment and denigrating treatments,” including being “humiliated…kept for hours on their knees, with their heads against the ground, without giving us water and pulling us for clothes.”
Israel has continued to expel activists, with 171 individuals flown to Greece and Slovakia in recent hours. The Global Movement to gaza is covering the travel expenses for Italian volunteers, reimbursing families who initially funded their return.
Among those repatriated was Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, labeled “one of the provocative expelled” by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who published a photo of her and two other women at Ben gurion airport, still wearing the clothing from their detention. Upon arrival, Thunberg stated, “I could speak for a long time about how we were mistreated and abused during our detention, but there is a genocide, it is taking place before our eyes, a live genocide.”
Simultaneously occurring, in Italy, two protesters arrested following clashes in Rome last Saturday have been released. The pair, a 19-year-old from Padua and a 39-year-old from Bologna, face charges of violence, resisting public officials, and aggravated injury; the latter allegedly threw bottles and a chair at police.
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