All of us at Drop Site News are deeply disturbed by the reports of inhumane and abusive treatment of nonviolent activists and journalists detained by the Israeli military while on board the Global Sumud Flotilla, including Drop Site’s own journalist Alex Colston.
Reports from the legal group Adalah indicate that the detainees were forced to kneel with their hands zip-tied for at least five hours and some are being denied sleep, food, and medication; a number of them were processed without lawyers present. They were moved from the port of Ashdod and currently being held in Ketziot Prison in the Naqab (Negev), one of Israel’s most notorious detention facilities. Drop Site has still had no direct contact with Alex, while members of Congress in the U.S. and many elected officials globally remain silent.
Drop Site demands the immediate release of our journalist Alex Colston and all of the flotilla participants, and calls on all U.S. lawmakers and the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem to pressure the Trump administration and Israel for the humane treatment of all of the nonviolent activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla.
To email your governments and urge foreign offices to demand the release of citizens on board the Global Samud Flotilla: Take Action for The Global Sumud Flotilla
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The last remaining boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla, the Marinette, was intercepted by the Israeli military on Friday at 10:29 a.m. local time, according to organizers. The over 450 participants from the flotilla were initially held at the port of Ashdod before being taken to the maximum-security Ketziot Prison in southern Israel.
While the Israeli foreign ministry said on X that “Procedures are under way to…finalize the deportation of the participants” and “Israel is keen to end this procedure as quickly as possible,” the activists in detention have reportedly been denied due process and instead been subjected to attempts at humiliation by the Israeli military.
Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir was filmed visiting the site where flotilla participants were being held and accused them of supporting “terrorism” as hundreds of them were seated on the floor.
On Saturday, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said she is being subjected to harsh treatment in Israeli custody after her detention from the Gaza aid flotilla, according to correspondence from Sweden’s foreign ministry seen by the Guardian.
Thunberg told embassy staff she is held in a cell “infested with bedbugs,” with too little food and water, and has developed rashes. She reported “sitting for long periods on hard surfaces.”
Freed Turkish activists described even harsher treatment: journalist Ersin Çelik said “the Israelis tormented Greta Thunberg, dragged her on the ground, and made her kiss the Israeli flag.” Ayçin Kantoglu said women were kept in a dog shelter, denied food for three days, forced to drink toilet water. The flotilla’s Italian legal team confirmed activists were left “for hours without food or water—until late last night,” with the exception of “a packet of crisps handed to Greta and shown to the cameras.” Lawyers also reported cases of verbal and physical abuse.
The press watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned Israel’s detention of journalists who were among hundreds of participants arrested on the flotilla. According to RSF, a total of around 20 international journalists were on board to cover the action. Drop Site journalist Alex Colston is among them. “Arresting journalists and preventing them from doing their work is a serious violation of the right to inform and be informed,” the head of the RSF Crisis Desk, Martin Roux, said in a statement. “RSF condemns the illegal arrest of the news professionals who were on board these ships to cover a humanitarian operation of unprecedented scale.”
In an October 2 statement issued by the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah said: “Detaining members of the press while reporting on a humanitarian mission is a clear violation of international maritime law and a dangerous escalation in Israel’s pattern of attacks against journalists. World leaders must act now to defend press freedom, protect journalists, and demand accountability.” CPJ contacted the Israeli military’s North America Media Desk to request comment on the detention of the journalists, which did not give the courtesy of a response.
On Saturday, 137 flotilla participants from several countries, including Turkey, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Libya, Jordan, Switzerland, Bahrain, and Malaysia were deported to Istanbul. Four Italian parliamentarians were deported a day earlier. Over 320 remain in Israeli detention.
Thousands have taken to the streets around the world, including in Turkey, Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Argentina, Belgium, and Germany to protest Israel’s interception of the flotilla and to call for an end to the war in Gaza. In Italy, workers and students demonstrated after the country’s largest unions called for a one-day general strike. Hundreds of trains were cancelled or delayed, some flights were cancelled, and many schools were closed.
U.S. lawmakers, however, have completely stonewalled attempts to free the GSF activists, even citing the government shutdown. This is unacceptable.
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