Australian Activists Claim Strip Searches and Bruising During Detention in Israel

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Two Australians detained by Israeli naval officers while attempting to sail aid to Gaza have shown bruises and alleged they were thrown around, after touching down in Sydney.

Safi and Martin were among 21 pro-Palestinian activists detained on board the Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessel, dubbed Handala, attempting to break Israel and Egypt’s blockade and deliver aid to Gaza.

Safi said the Israeli naval officers who boarded the ship were heavily armed, with some having four machine guns, and alleged they played “psychological games” with the activists on the 12-hour sail journey to Israel.

“There were at least 35 of them on the boat at any given time, telling us what to do, where to sit. They wouldn’t let some of us lie down as night went on,” Safi said.

A group of people standing in a row with banners behind them.

Two Australians on board the boat said the Israeli officers pinned down activists and strip-searched them when the ship arrived in Israel. Source: SBS News / Phoebe Deas

The group collectively decided to go on a water and hunger strike, leaving them “confused, dehydrated and exhausted” as they arrived at the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Safi alleged some were taken into interrogation rooms, recalling how they had been “dragged out by the arms” after asking about one of the other activists.

“They pulled me out, threw me down on the floor, and they made me take off all my clothes,” Safi said, showing the still visible bruises to reporters in Sydney.

“They strip-searched me right there, made me squat up and down, and then went through all my things.”

Martin said the group had their possessions withheld, including critical medication and their repeated demands for legal representation were denied. They eventually had access to one legal visit from the lawyers from Adalah, a legal support organisation in Israel.

SBS News has contacted the Israeli embassy in Canberra for comment.

A boat with colourful drawings and signs sets sail.

The vessel called Handala departed from Italy one week ago, aiming to reach Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and break the Israeli blockade. Source: Getty / Anadolu

Inside the prison, Safi alleged they were screamed at in Hebrew and randomly handcuffed, only for the officers to “grab the handcuffs and throw me against the wall”.

“I woke to what sounded like a Palestinian man howling and screaming and crying in pain, and whatever happens to us is absolutely just going to be like this smaller sliver of what happens to Palestinians in these prisons,” Safi said.

On Sunday, Israel’s foreign ministry confirmed the vessel had been stopped from entering the coast of Gaza, but has not publicly commented since.

“Unauthorised attempts to breach the blockade are dangerous, unlawful, and undermine ongoing humanitarian efforts,” the statement, posted to X, read.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade then confirmed that officials were liaising with authorities in Tel Aviv and “stand ready to offer assistance to affected Australians”.

More than 200 trucks of aid entered Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Israeli customs authority, but aid workers argue the measures fall short of the 500-600 trucks the UN said are necessary to sustain malnourished Gaza citizens.

Israeli officials, including its embassy in Canberra, deny that starvation is occurring in the Gaza Strip, stating reports of the deaths of malnourished children are a “false campaign” by Hamas — the political and military group that rules Gaza.