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Freedom Flotilla Activists Detail Abuse After Gaza Raid

Aid workers recount beatings and threats following Israeli seizure of ships as a fragile ceasefire takes hold in Gaza.

6 min read

On October 8, 2025, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition—a convoy of ships loaded with desperately needed medical supplies—set sail for Gaza, hoping to break the long-standing blockade imposed by Israel. Instead, the mission ended in a violent confrontation at sea, with activists from around the world detained, abused, and left to recount harrowing stories of their ordeal. Their accounts have now ignited renewed global scrutiny of Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the treatment of international aid workers, and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave.

Alam, a Bangladeshi activist and managing director of the independent media organization Drik, was among 150 humanitarians detained by Israeli forces as the flotilla approached Gaza’s waters. During a news conference in Dhaka, Alam described a campaign of psychological torment and humiliation that began the moment Israeli soldiers boarded the ships. “They made loud noises, shouted to stand up or give other orders and tried to create panic. One of our fellow humanitarians was also threatened with being shot, claiming to be a Hamas supporter,” Alam recalled, according to AhlulBayt News Agency.

After being forced off the ship, Alam and his fellow detainees were taken with their hands tied behind their backs. “We were made to kneel down in a cell where the Israeli force members just urinated,” he said. For Alam, one of the worst indignities was when Israeli soldiers repeatedly threw his passport on the ground. “It was a big blow for me,” he admitted. While Alam and dozens of others eventually returned home with the help of the Turkish government, he emphasized that many activists remained in Israeli jails as of October 14, 2025.

The flotilla’s mission was simple but urgent: deliver medicines, respiratory equipment, and hospital supplies to Gaza, where an 18-year blockade has left nearly 2.4 million residents in dire need. But the response from Israeli forces was anything but restrained. Noa Avishag Schnall, an American Jewish photojournalist aboard the Conscience vessel, described the raid in chilling detail in a video statement after her release. “Our boat, the Conscience, was attacked in international waters around 5 a.m. Wednesday morning. The brutality began immediately,” Schnall told Drop Site News.

According to Schnall, activists were subjected to “extreme brutality” from the outset. “We were taken through multiple levels of administration and the first of many strip searches; at least one woman has reported being physically penetrated by guards who laughed at her pain,” she said. Schnall, who appeared in the video with a black eye and bruises, recounted how Israeli prison guards beat her and other members of the flotilla, sometimes blocking her airways by sitting on her neck and face. “Any flotilla member who upset the Israeli guards was subjected to twisted and tightened handcuffs and some received beatings. I was hung from the metal shackles on my wrists and ankles and beaten in the stomach, back, face, ear, and skull by a group of men and women guards, one of whom sat on my neck and face, blocking my airways.”

Other activists, Schnall said, were tormented in gender-segregated cells. “During the evening, the men were tormented by guards with attack dogs and guns. The women were threatened with pepper spray. Our cell was awoken with threats of rape.” Many, she added, watched as their valuables were looted by guards during bag searches. “All of us had our hands violently shoved towards the ground and arms held in stress positions behind us, many with zip-ties, and were led through processing and sorted into groups of men and women, then blindfolded. Several of the 150 total flotilla members, including me, were targeted for extreme brutality throughout imprisonment.”

The October 8 raid marked the second such incident in a single week. Just days earlier, Israeli forces intercepted about 40 vessels and detained more than 450 activists in the Global Sumud Flotilla, another aid convoy bound for Gaza. The escalating crackdown, activists argue, is part of a broader pattern: Israel’s blockade on Gaza, initiated in 2007, has tightened further in recent months. In March 2025, Israel closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing Gaza even closer to famine.

Since October 2023, the enclave has endured relentless bombardment, with Israeli attacks killing nearly 67,200 Palestinians—most of them women and children—according to AhlulBayt News Agency and Drop Site News. The devastation has rendered much of Gaza uninhabitable, with hospitals overwhelmed and basic infrastructure in ruins. The flotilla’s cargo, activists emphasized, was never intended as a political gesture but as a lifeline for a population on the brink.

Alam, reflecting on his experience, directed sharp criticism at the international community and the media. “I should say, ‘Shame on you.’ Shame on you because you (Western media) are involved in genocide. Shame on you because you are aiding and abetting genocide. And shame on you for not joining this flotilla to Gaza, when this was an opportunity to prove that you are different,” he said. Yet, Alam also held out hope for change. “But there is still a chance to join future flotillas, to change your behavior, to rebuild your position and to be on the right side of history.”

The release of some pro-Palestine activists, including Alam and Schnall, coincided with a significant diplomatic development. Israel and the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire deal proposed by US President Donald Trump, aimed at ending the two-year Israeli war on Gaza. While the details of the agreement remain tentative, and many detainees are still held by Israeli authorities, the move has sparked cautious optimism among humanitarian groups and international observers.

The Freedom Flotilla’s ordeal has reignited debate about the efficacy and morality of the Gaza blockade, Israel’s handling of detained activists, and the broader international response to the crisis. Critics of Israel’s actions point to the suffering in Gaza as evidence of collective punishment and call for an immediate end to the blockade. Supporters of Israel, meanwhile, argue that the blockade is a necessary security measure to prevent weapons smuggling and attacks on Israeli civilians. The raid on the flotilla and the subsequent allegations of abuse have only deepened these divisions, with each side accusing the other of distorting the facts to serve a political agenda.

For those who survived the raid, however, the political debate is not nearly as urgent as the humanitarian emergency unfolding in Gaza. “We have made a ‘blueprint’ before we return, and we have decided that we will go again and a thousand ships will go,” Alam declared, signaling that the movement to break Gaza’s isolation is far from over.

As the world watches the fragile ceasefire unfold and waits to see whether aid will finally reach those in need, the stories of Alam, Schnall, and their fellow activists serve as a stark reminder of the costs—and the courage—involved in challenging the status quo. Their testimony, raw and unfiltered, ensures that the suffering of Gaza and the struggle of those who try to help will not soon be forgotten.

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