Two Australian citizens have spoken out about their harrowing treatment at the hands of Israeli forces after their boat, part of a humanitarian aid mission to Gaza, was intercepted and seized.
Journalist Tania “Tan” Safi and human rights activist Robert Martin were among 21 activists on board the Handala, a vessel operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which was carrying food, baby formula, nappies and medicine to Gaza. The boat was intercepted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday in international waters and transported to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
Now back in Australia after several days in Israeli custody, the pair described their ordeal as a form of “psychological brutalisation”, alleging they were shackled, strip-searched, denied access to legal support and external communication, and treated “like criminals”.
“It feels like a bit of a dream at the moment, to be honest … it’s been a rough ride,” Safi told reporters at Sydney Airport on Friday morning. “We were dehydrated and exhausted. We’ve been disconnected from the world.”
According to Safi, around 30 armed IDF personnel stormed the Handala, some carrying as many as four firearms.
“They knocked me in the leg with one of their machine guns,” she said. “They were playing this odd psychological game of offering water and food with a camera crew present, trying to get us to accept things from them. But none of us would. We don’t want to take anything from an entity that is starving babies to death.”
Upon arrival at Ashdod, Safi said the activists’ belongings were confiscated and they were taken for interrogation, with many personal items still unaccounted for.
Safi also confirmed reports that US labour activist Chris Smalls, who was also on board, was physically assaulted by IDF forces.
“Chris, the only Black man, was pinned down by seven or eight men,” she said. “When I asked about him, they came into the room and dragged me out by my arms. I’m still bruised from it. They threw me down on the floor, made me take off all my clothes, and strip-searched me right there. They made me squat up and down… They treated us like criminals.”
Eventually, the Australian embassy was able to intervene, facilitating limited contact with family and providing legal support.
“In these prisons, we saw face-to-face the soullessness and the cruelty,” Safi added. “There were moments where they would handcuff me and throw me against the wall. We woke up to inmates howling in pain.”
Martin described being “manhandled” while requesting legal counsel, and said they were deprived of medication and denied the right to call their families, despite demands from the Australian government.
“We had no rights,” he said. “They didn’t allow any medication at all. Eventually, we were shackled and taken to Jordan, where we were left with no money, no phone, and no idea what was going to happen to us.”
The pair were hospitalised upon arrival in Jordan and declared temporarily unfit to fly due to extreme exhaustion.
“We didn’t realise how bad things were until they hooked us up to an IV,” Safi said. “I just passed out and slept for 16 hours. In prison, they kept you awake, they’d shine a torch in your face or bang on the door each time you started to drift off.”
She also alleged they were coerced to sign documents falsely claiming they had entered Israel illegally.
“We committed no crime,” she said. “We were taken completely against our will and brutalised psychologically in every way.”
This incident follows a pattern of Israeli responses to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The last boat, Madleen, was intercepted by the Israeli military in international waters on 9 June. Among the 12 activists aboard was Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg. All passengers were eventually deported.
In 2010, a similar flotilla mission ended in tragedy when nine activists on the Mavi Marmara were shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in a violent raid.
The Israeli embassy in Canberra and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been contacted for comment.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has vowed to continue efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, despite increasing resistance and detention from Israeli forces.
The United Nations has described the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a “worst-case scenario of famine”, with millions of Palestinians at risk due to blockades on essential supplies.
