Flotilla activists slam jail conditions as Israel plans deportations
By The Guardian, October 6, 2025Activists from New Zealand detained in Israel after they were removed from vessels carrying aid to Gaza are being held in poor conditions without access to water and legal representation, their families have said, as dozens more passengers from the Global Sumud Flotilla were set to be deported.
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Rana Hamida, Youssef Sammour, and Samuel Leason were among 437 activists, parliamentarians, and lawyers travelling aboard the flotilla, a coalition of more than 40 vessels carrying humanitarian aid whose goal was to breach Israel’s 16-year maritime blockade of Gaza.
Last week, Israeli forces intercepted all of the boats in international waters and arrested every crew member onboard, including the three New Zealanders who were being held at Ktzi’ot Prison in the Negev desert.
Environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg who was also arrested, told Swedish officials that Israeli forces were subjecting her to harsh treatment, including being held in a cell infested with bedbugs, not providing enough food and clean water, and forcing her to hold flags for photographs.
Thunberg will be among more than 70 people of different nationalities to leave Israel on Monday, October 6, 2025. They include 28 French citizens, 27 Greeks, 15 Italians, and nine Swedes.
“Another detainee reportedly told another embassy that they had seen her [Thunberg] being forced to hold flags while pictures were taken. She wondered whether images of her had been distributed,” the Swedish ministry’s official added.
The accusation was corroborated by at least two other members of the flotilla who had been detained by Israeli forces and released on Saturday.
“They dragged little Greta [Thunberg] by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,” the Turkish activist ErsinÇelik, a participant in the Sumud flotilla, told Anadolu news agency.
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Lorenzo D’Agostino, a journalist and another flotilla participant, said after returning to Istanbul that Thunberg was “wrapped in the Israeli flag and paraded like a trophy” – a scene described with disbelief and anger by those who witnessed it.
Thunberg is among 437 activists, parliamentarians, and lawyers who were part of the Global Sumud flotilla, a coalition of more than 40 vessels carrying humanitarian aid whose goal was to breach Israel’s 16-year maritime blockade of Gaza.
Between Thursday and Friday, October 2025, Israeli forces intercepted all the boats and arrested every crew member on board. Most of them are being held at Ketziot, also known as Ansar III, a high-security prison in the Negev desert used primarily to detain Palestinian security prisoners, many of whom Israel accuses of involvement in militant or terrorist activities.
In the past, activists detained by Israel were not criminally prosecuted, and instead their presence was treated as an immigration matter.
According to lawyers from the NGO Adalah, the rights of the crew members have been “systematically violated.” Activists denied water, sanitation, medication, and immediate access to their legal representatives, in clear breach of their fundamental rights to due process, impartial trial, and legal representation.
The Italian legal team representing the flotilla confirmed those detained were left “for hours without food or water, until late last night”, except “a packet of crisps handed to Greta and shown to the cameras”. Lawyers also reported instances of verbal and physical abuse.
During a visit to Ashdod on Thursday night, Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was filmed calling the activists “terrorists” as he stood in front of them.
“These are the terrorists of the flotilla,” he said, speaking in Hebrew and pointing at dozens of people sitting on the ground. His spokesperson confirmed the video was filmed at Ashdod port.
Some activists were heard shouting: “Free Palestine.”
Ben-Gvir has previously called for the activists to be jailed rather than deported.
After their arrest, the flotilla’s legal team expressed concern over the treatment the crew members might face, particularly those who had previously been detained by Israeli authorities after attempts to break Gaza’s naval blockade. This marks the second time Thunberg has been arrested alongside other flotilla members, after a similar attempt early in 2025 ended with the activist’s arrest and deportation.