Italian activists who were part of the Gaza aid fleet and subsequently detained by Israel have laid out allegations of being abused and humiliated while in Israeli custody, receiving little legal assistance.
Lorenzo de Agostino is one of the many flotilla participants deported by Israel and claims that they were treated poorly while in custody. Israel strongly denies allegations of mistreating the group.
In an interview with CNN, D’Agostino said he was forced to sit or kneel on concrete in front of an Israeli flag, was left in cold temperatures with little clothing, had his belongings confiscated or destroyed, and had his wrists tied tightly.
“We were shocked at the level of humiliation and gratuitous cruelty these people used against us,” he said.
“The way we were treated… was to push the abuse and humiliation to the limits of what they could afford,” D’Agostino said. He said he believed that because he was from Italy, a traditional ally of Israel, Israeli guards “knew they couldn’t physically harm us” or they would face a backlash.
“People from countries that are not allied (with Israel) were physically harmed,” he said. “I had a broken arm and was sharing my cell with a Turkish citizen (another activist) who was left without painkillers for two days.”
In a social media post on Sunday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the activists’ claims of mistreatment were “brazen lies” and that “the legal rights of all detainees are fully supported.”
D’Agostino is one of about 450 activists, including climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, who were arrested last week aboard the global Sumud Flotilla, a coalition of more than 40 humanitarian vessels carrying water, water and medicine bound for Gaza. Those detained between Wednesday and Friday were brought to Israel, where many remain in prison.
Flotilla, which set sail in late August and September, was the latest attempt by activists to break Israel’s long-standing blockade of the Palestinian territories at sea. Israel insists the blockade is legal and calls the fleet a provocation.
Samberg, one of the most prominent people aboard the fleet, was forced to kneel on concrete in front of an Israeli flag and was constantly surrounded by other Israeli flags while in custody, D’Agostino said.
He added that police and soldiers would often take pictures of her with the flag. This claim was echoed by Lubna Tuma, a lawyer at the Adara Law Center who represents activists who said Tandberg, along with one other detainee, were “separated from others and forced to display the Israeli flag as an act of humiliation.”
On Monday afternoon, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Tanberg had been deported along with 170 other fleet participants.
Tandberg later arrived at Athens International Airport, where she told a crowd of people “I can speak for a very long time about the mistreatment and mistreatment of our incarceration.” “But that’s not the story.”
“What happened here was that Israel continued to exacerbate and escalate its genocide and mass destruction… while once again violating international law by preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza while its people were starving,” she said.
The Israeli government says it is waging the war in Gaza in accordance with international law and firmly denies the accusations of genocide.
While D’Agostino was in custody, he said Israel’s far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir visited the flotilla participants, where he called them “terrorists” and “supporters of murderers.”
Border guards “felt forced to be particularly cruel in front of the minister,” D’Agostino said, adding that when Ben-Gvir was visiting, his hands were bound so tightly that it felt like the blood circulation to them was almost severed.
On the same day, Ben Gvir criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for deporting Fleet activists.
“The Prime Minister’s decision to allow terrorist sympathizers in the fleet to return to their home country is fundamentally wrong,” he said in the X post.
“They have to be kept in Israeli prisons for the last few months so they can breathe air on the terrorist wing. After all, the prime minister cannot send them back to their country again and again.
Other deported activists gave similar explanations for their detention, with lawyers at the Adara Law Center representing the activists calling it a “serial violation.” Goretti Saracibal, who was deported from Tel Aviv on Sunday, told Reuters that after being released from their cells, the activists were forced to view images of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
“They didn’t give us food all day,” he said: “Now we are eating very happily because we were starving.”
Dutch activist Marco Tesch said at one point that he couldn’t call because “they put something in my face and tied my hands behind my back.”
Rafael Borrego’s associates from Rechoti showed evidence of handcuffs on his wrists and described prison conditions.
“Whenever any of us called the police, we risked being dragged to the floor with more than seven fully armed people entering our cells and pointing at us with weapons at our heads, dogs ready to attack us,” he told Reuters. “This happened every day.”
In an X post on Monday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry again denied that any of the flotilla participants were mistreated in detention.
“All legal rights of the participants in this PR stunt remained fully upheld,” the statement reads.
“The lies they are spreading are part of a pre-planned fake news campaign,” it said. “Don’t believe the fake news they’re spreading.”
