Australian activists have alleged serious abuse at the hands of Israeli forces after the Israel Defense Forces intercepted a flotilla attempting to deliver aid to Gaza. Zack Schofield, a climate activist from Newcastle, described witnessing Israeli soldiers beat an Irish female activist to the ground after she shouted “free Palestine” at Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Schofield said her hands and feet were zip-tied together before she was dragged through a processing centre and onto a prison bus.
The Global Sumud flotilla, carrying 428 activists from various countries, was intercepted earlier this week while sailing from Turkey to deliver food and aid. Eleven Australians were among those detained. Schofield alleged that many members were treated brutally, with violence varying at the whim of guards. Detainees have reported torture, sexual assault, beatings and non-lethal shooting. Filmmaker Juliet Lamont told reporters in Turkey that she was sexually assaulted and beaten, and that soldiers beat 180 people on her prison boat, leaving at least 40 with broken bones.
Israeli Ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, rejected the allegations, claiming detainees were handled with “great sensitivity” and that no one was harmed. However, flotilla coordinators said all Australian activists required first aid, with three taken to hospital in Turkey. Photographs of other activists showed bruises and torn skin.
Schofield detailed the treatment after the interception, saying armed guards used stun guns and fired non-lethal “beanbag rounds” for minor provocations. Detainees were forced to sleep on cold, wet floors in prison tracksuits for two days, with four people per square metre. At the port of Ashdod, Schofield heard screams from a man taken to a shipping container. He also alleged that at Ktzi’ot prison, his hands were handcuffed behind his back for hours, and guards restricted water access and forced detainees into painful stress positions. All IDF soldiers and prison guards were masked, he said.
Ben-Gvir faced international condemnation after sharing footage of himself verbally abusing kneeling detainees during a tour of the prison. Schofield said the minister avoided eye contact, noting “the veneer of courage is pretty thin.” Despite the ordeal, Schofield insisted he would sail to Gaza again, stating: “Every activist on the flotilla … has only had their heart more emboldened by witnessing and experiencing the brutality of the Israeli state.”
