The first group of activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla bound for Gaza arrived in Türkiye on Thursday after being unlawfully detained by Israeli forces during an interception in international waters.
Hundreds of activists from countries around the world were placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory.
Turkish foreign ministry sources said 422 activists, among them 85 Turkish nationals, were flown from southern Israel on three planes chartered by Ankara.
A first group of arrivals was seen inside the VIP terminal at Istanbul airport, as a crowd of supporters carrying Palestinian flags gathered to welcome them, an AFP correspondent said.
Israeli forces "attacked us. Each of us was beaten, women and men... It's what Palestinians experience all the time," said Turkish national Bulal Kitay, after he got off the plane.
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sparked widespread condemnation and a diplomatic backlash Wednesday by posting a video showing the detained activists with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground.
Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, said Thursday that "all foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel.
"Israel will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza," he added.
Upon arrival at Istanbul airport, one of the activists shouted, "the Palestinian people are not alone!" as he emerged from the terminal.
"We've been tortured, we've been beaten, we've been arrested in international waters, but we won't give up. We will return. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea," he said to cheers from the crowd.
The legal center representing the flotilla members said earlier on Thursday that the majority were "en route for deportation" from Ramon Airport in Israel's far south.
Adalah said they had been held at Israel's Ktziot prison, in the Negev Desert near Gaza.
A spokesman for Adalah said activists from Egypt had been transferred to Taba at Egypt's border with Israel, while those from Jordan had been transferred to Aqaba.
Around 50 vessels under the Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Türkiye last week in the latest attempt by activists to breach Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza, after Israeli forces intercepted a previous convoy last month.
The deportations come after footage posted by Ben Gvir, captioned "Welcome to Israel" and showing the minister heckling and waving an Israeli flag among the detained activists, sparked resounding condemnation by governments around the world, from Italy to Spain and Australia to Canada.
He was also criticized at home by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, as well as by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Italy and Spain have called on the European Union to sanction BenGvir, with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calling the treatment of the activists "unacceptable".
In Ireland, a leaked letter revealed Prime Minister Micheal Martin urging the EU chief for "further action" against Israel over their treatment, including a ban on settlement goods and suspension "of parts if not all" of the EU's Association Agreement with Israel.
The United Kingdom announced it had summoned Israel's most senior diplomat in Britain following "the inflammatory video."
Adalah's legal director Suhad Bishara told AFP on Wednesday that the group's lawyers had given legal counsel to "many" of the activists, though she added others had faced court hearings without legal assistance.
"We know of at least two participants who were hospitalized... both of them were shot by rubber bullets," Bishara said, adding that others said they feared they had broken ribs.
Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian journalist detained with the flotilla activists and deported before the others, told reporters in Italy on Thursday that he and others were "taken to Ben Gurion airport in handcuffs and with chains on our feet and put on a flight to Athens."
"They beat us up. They kicked us and punched us and shouted 'Welcome to Israel'," he said of his treatment by Israeli security forces.
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, under an illegal blockade since 2007.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, the territory has suffered severe shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies due to Israeli restrictions.
Activists say Palestinians endure far worse conditions than flotilla detainees
Algerian activist Muhammed Harkati, who was part of the Global Sumud Flotilla unlawfully detained by Israel in international waters, said the torture they endured could not be compared to the suffering faced by Palestinians.
Harkati, one of the activists who had set sail from Marmaris on May 14 in an effort to break Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, spoke to Anadolu Agency (AA) at Istanbul Airport about the events following Israel's raid on the flotilla.
He stressed that the mission was entirely humanitarian and aimed at breaking the blockade on Gaza.
"It was a humanitarian, peaceful mission. However, while we were in international waters, we were attacked and abducted. Afterwards, we were held in prison," Harkati said.
He said activists from the flotilla were first taken to Ashdod Port in southern Israel after being detained.
"From Ashdod Port, we were taken to prison. There, we were beaten and tortured. The beatings and torture we endured cannot be compared to what our Palestinian brothers are suffering," he said.
Harkati pointed out that the activists aboard the flotilla had the support of their countries and embassies, unlike Palestinians in Gaza.
"Palestinians do not have such an opportunity. We were able to eat and drink, but they cannot. So we cannot say they are living like us. There is a huge difference between us and them," he added.
Speaking about the treatment they faced during interrogations in Israel, Harkati said they were tightly restrained and assaulted by soldiers while being transferred between interrogation rooms.
"During the interrogations, they tied us tightly. The soldier who took us from one room to another also beat us," he said.
Harkati added that Israeli forces placed both plastic and steel handcuffs on the activists throughout their detention.
Mauritanian human rights activist Muhammed Baba, another participant in the flotilla, said Israeli forces attacked them using dogs.
"They unleashed a guard dog on me. It was hitting my chest and face with its muzzle. This attack happened just before we were taken to prison," Baba said.
The Mauritanian activist said Israeli prison security officers carried out the attack after realizing the detainees were not afraid of them.
"They did this when they saw that we were not afraid of them," he said.
On May 18, the Israeli military intercepted the flotilla of 50 boats carrying 428 activists from 44 countries while it was sailing toward Gaza in international waters and unlawfully detained the activists.
Among those detained were 78 Turkish participants. The activists were first taken to Ashdod Port before being transferred overnight to Ketziot Prison in the Negev Desert.