FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (TRIGGER WARNING) Reports of Severe Physical and Sexual Violence by IOF Soldiers Against Participants Emerge Following Illegal israeli Interception of the Flotilla [multilingual]

MEDITERRANEAN SEA — The Global Sumud Flotilla is releasing preliminary first-hand testimonies detailing a pattern of severe physical and sexual violence and systematic degradation perpetrated against civilian participants following the interception of the flotilla in international waters. These accounts, gathered following the release of 179 participants to Greek authorities, indicate a reliance on physical violence and abuse, including sexual abuse, as tools of intimidation and control.

Calculated Environmental Control and Physical Abuse

As international attention remains focused on the continued, illegal detention of Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila at the Shikma prison in israel, first-hand testimonials have emerged regarding the methods used to subjugate those held in custody. Survivors report that when the IOF felt their power had been challenged, they escalated to physical and sexual violence to subdue them.

Testimonies describe a regime of calculated environmental deprivation used to break the resolve of the participants. This included:

• Tactics of Exposure: Reports of areas outside the containers where participants were held being flooded with water at night. This forced detainees who were forced to sleep outside into states of extreme physical distress.
• Deliberate Deprivation: The targeted removal of warm clothing, shoes, and socks, alongside a lack of adequate food, water, and bedding.
• Medical Neglect: These conditions resulted in multiple participants suffering from varying degrees of hyperthermia and hypothermia.

Patterns of Dehumanization

Participants have further documented a regime of invasive and humiliating search procedures, alongside targeted physical and sexual trauma directed at both men and women. It has come to light that at least 4 participants experienced sexual violence at the hands of the IOF soldiers. Two individuals reported being penetrated anally with a finger. Others reported being struck repeatedly and forcefully in their genitals; and others having their genitals grabbed, squeezed or pulled; and, simultaneously being sexually assaulted verbally.

These reports are not described as isolated incidents, but rather as part of a broader pattern of treatment intended to dehumanize those standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Call for International Accountability

The Global Sumud Flotilla underscores that these reported acts of violence reflect a broader, well-documented reality regarding the treatment of Palestinian detainees within the current israeli legal and military framework. The GSF links these harrowing accounts to the ongoing detention of Abukeshek and Ávila, who remain on a hunger strike to protest their abduction and the reported mistreatment they have endured.

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