Gaza flotilla activists faced verbal, physical, psychological abuse in Israeli detention: Moroccan journalist

By Ahmad Bentaher and Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) - Moroccan journalist Younes Ait Yassine, one of the participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the blockade on Gaza, said Sunday that activists detained by Israel were subjected to “verbal, physical, and psychological abuse.”

His remarks came as three Moroccan activists returned to the country via Istanbul after being released by Israeli authorities.

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail late August seeking to provide aid to Gaza but Israel attacked the boats earlier this week, detaining more than 400 people whom it began deporting on Friday.

On Saturday afternoon, 137 activists of various nationalities, including four Moroccans, arrived at the Istanbul Airport on a special Turkish Airlines flight. Two Moroccan activists, meanwhile, still remain in detention, according to rights groups.

“This was an unprecedented experience -- we suffered greatly after being kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupation,” Ait Yassine told reporters.

“During our detention, we were subjected to verbal, physical, and psychological assaults, enduring violations and humiliation of our human dignity.”

Dozens of Moroccans gathered at the Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, waving Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans to show solidarity with the returning activists.

“I’ll take off my journalist’s hat and speak as a Moroccan -- it is time for the public’s rejection of normalization to be reflected in government policy. There can be no justification for continuing ties with a rogue state that practices piracy and kidnaps hundreds of activists on the high seas,” Ait Yassine added. Morocco signed the Abraham Accords and normalized relations with Israel in 2020.

The Israeli assault on the flotilla has triggered public protests and official condemnations in several countries, alongside growing calls for the release of detained activists and for Tel Aviv to be held accountable for its violations of international law.

Israel has maintained the blockade of Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for almost 18 years.

Since October 2023, Israeli bombing has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable, with the blockade also pushing Gaza to famine.