ROME (AP) — Some of the activists detained while trying to reach Gaza by sea have returned to their home countries to describe abuse and humiliation at the hands of Israeli guards.

Some 450 activists were arrested as Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of 42 boats seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and deliver a symbolic amount of aid to the famine-stricken territory. Those detained between Wednesday and Friday were brought to Israel, where many remain in prison.

Italian journalist Saverio Tommasi said Israeli soldiers withheld medicines and treated prisoners “like monkeys.”

“This is called torture. It’s called torture, a denial of human rights, even the most basic ones,” he said on his return at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport late Saturday.

“They took away everyone’s medicine: people with heart disease, asthma, even an 86-year-old man… they took away his inhaler.”

Among those detained were Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela and several European lawmakers.

Tommasi said Thunberg was singled out by Israeli forces after being arrested.

“We also saw Greta Thunberg at the port, in that case with her arms tied and an Israeli flag next to her, just a mockery,” he said. “Let’s say the mockery was part of the verbal and psychological violence they always carried out, in order to demean, ridicule and laugh in situations where there is nothing to laugh about.”

The inteception of the flotilla came as U.S. President Donald Trump was appearing to be brokering a fresh peace initiative in Gaza, including a proposed ceasefire, as he ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza.

Another Italian journalist, Lorenzo D’Agostino, said detainees were repeatedly woken during the two nights he spent behind bars. They were also intimidated with dogs and by soldiers pointing the laser sights of their guns at prisoners “to scare us.”

“Overall, I felt I was being held by a terrorist organization,” he said after landing at Istanbul Airport, where 137 activists from 13 countries arrived from Israel on Saturday.

D’Agostino added that his belongings and money had been “stolen by the Israelis.”

Activist Paolo De Montis described being crammed into a prison van for hours with his hands secured by zip ties.

“Constant stress and humiliation,” he said. “You weren’t allowed to look them in the face, always had to keep your head down and when I did look up, a man … came and shook me and slapped me on the back of the head.”

In a statement, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he was “proud” of the way staff behaved at Ketziot prison, a facility in the Negev desert.

“I was proud that we treat the ‘flotilla activists’ as supporters of terrorism. Anyone who supports terrorism is a terrorist and deserves the conditions of terrorists,” he said.

“If any of them thought they would come here and receive a red carpet and trumpets — they were mistaken. They should get a good feel for the conditions in Ketziot prison and think twice before they approach Israel again.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said the claims of mistreatment were “brazen lies.”

In a statement on social media, the ministry said all detainees’ legal rights had been “fully upheld,” adding that Thunberg had not complained about the “ludicrous and baseless allegations — because they never occurred.”

The arrests led to criticism from several governments including Turkey, Colombia and Pakistan. Greece, which had 27 of its nationals in Israeli custody, issued a “strong written protest” to Israel over the “unacceptable and inappropriate behavior of an Israeli minister.”

The complaint is thought to refer to footage of Ben-Gvir upbraiding the activists for supporting “terrorism” and mocking their aid initiative after they were brought ashore at the southern port of Ashdod on Friday.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry said it had “acted intensively to ensure that the detained Swedes’ rights are observed.”

The interception of the flotilla also led to large-scale demonstrations in cities across the world.

Wilks reported from Istanbul. Associated Press writers Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, Stefanie Dazio in Berlin and Khalil Hamra in Istanbul contributed.

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TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — An international activist group seeking to deliver aid to Gaza on a flotilla says one of its boats was hit by what it believes was a drone while docked in Tunisia. Tunisian authorities denied a drone was involved and said they are investigating a fire in a life jacket aboard the boat.

The Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement overnight that a vessel known as the “Family Boat,” traveling under a Portuguese flag, “was struck by a drone,” but that no one aboard was hurt.

Footage posted on the group’s social media showed a flash of light landing on one of the boats and setting off what appears to be a fire.

The group, whose flotilla was scheduled to leave Tunisia on Wednesday, is expected to give a news conference in Tunis later Tuesday about what happened. It said the incident would not derail its mission to deliver aid to Gaza.

The flotilla is part of a broad movement seeking to deliver aid to Gaza by boat.

The Family Boat was carrying the most famous members of the flotilla, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau. It is still unclear if they were on board during the reported attack.

Portuguese activist Miguel Duarte, who was aboard the vessel, said at a press conference in Tunis on Tuesday that he clearly saw a drone just a few meters above his head moments before an explosion.

“The drone stood a few seconds on top of a bunch of life jackets. and then dropped a bomb,” Duarte said. “The bomb exploded, and there was a big flame, there was a fire on board immediately. We picked up the fire extinguishers, we were able to fight the fire successfully, and everybody was safe, fortunately.”

The Tunisian Interior Ministry said in a statement that reports about a drone attack were unfounded, and that specialized security units are investigating the results of a fire in a life jacket.

The Israeli military and Israeli government did not immediately respond to requests for comment

The flotilla — which activists call “Steadfastness” in Arabic — set sail from Barcelona last week hoping to transport food, water and medicine to Gaza in defiance of Israel’s blockade on the enclave’s maritime border. The group had speculated about drones flying overhead on livestreams and social media.

Activists argue that the presence of doctors, artists, clergy and European politicians on board will help spotlight the blockade and Israel’s moves to enforce it.

Its voyage comes three months after a smaller activist flotilla crossed the Mediterranean with plans to deliver aid to Gaza. An overland convoy traveling across North Africa also attempted to reach the border but was blocked by security forces aligned with Egypt in eastern Libya.

Israel has previously dismissed such efforts as publicity stunts, saying a blockade is necessary to prevent smuggling, particularly of weapons.

“Not only we continue our mission, we keep on going, but since that (attack) happened, thousands and thousands of people are now volunteering again to join our mission,” said activist Thiago Ávila at Tuesday’s press conference.

Activists who were forcibly detained by Israeli forces while sailing to Gaza with humanitarian aid say they’ve been facing abuse and threats from authorities while held in inhumane conditions — but are pleading for the public to stay focused on Israel’s destructive campaign in the walled-off Palestinian territory.

Israeli naval forces intercepted the Madleen in international waters early Monday and detained all 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and European Parliament member Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian. The civilian boat sailed from Italy with the goal of delivering aid to Gaza and creating a maritime humanitarian corridor for the starving enclave to break Israel’s deadly siege.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which organized the humanitarian mission, said that Israeli forces told detained activists to sign a document admitting “illegal entry into Israeli territory” in order to be deported back to their home countries. While four of them have since been deported, all of the activists strongly rejected Israel’s claim of unlawful entry.

“I did not recognize that I entered the country illegally,” Thunberg told reporters upon arriving in France on Tuesday, saying the document she signed did not include that requirement. “I made it very clear in my testimonial that we were kidnapped on international waters and brought there against our own will and into Israel.”

The activists say authorities were also threatening and abusive. Dr. Baptiste André, a French member of the crew who returned from detention, recalled “acts of abuse” by Israeli forces against the activists — especially to Thunberg, who later said that any conditions she faced “were absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine.”

“As soon as she fell asleep, the immigration services would come and wake her up” by playing loud music and dancing, André said on Tuesday. He also alleged that detainees experienced “difficulties in accessing water and food,” and had no access to toilets.

“As soon as one of the officers felt that I was starting to understand a little of what they were doing, he approached me and said to me, ‘Why are you like this and why do you smell bad?’” crew member and Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad said upon returning to France. “I told him, ‘You haven’t let us rest for three days.’”

Eight of the Madleen passengers remain in custody as of Wednesday, according to Adalah, the Palestinian legal group representing the activists. Among the eight is Hassan, who Faiad said was threatened by Israeli forces for refusing to sign the deportation documents.

“I heard the officer directly threatening her, ‘I’ll smash your head against the wall if you don’t sign. We’ll handle this our way,’” Faiad recalled. Thunberg also said that fellow volunteers were treated “obviously in a very dehumanizing way.”

Hassan was first placed in Givon Prison before Israeli forces put her in solitary confinement at the Neve Tirza Prison for writing “Free Palestine” on a wall, according to the FFC. In isolation, she stayed in a “small, windowless cell with extremely poor hygienic conditions and has been denied access to the prison yards.” On Wednesday, she was moved back to Givon.

The European Parliament member is not the only passenger who was allegedly isolated. Brazilian activist Thiago Avila was taken to solitary confinement in Ayalon Prison after he started a hunger and thirst strike. Israeli forces have blocked efforts by both the embassy and Avila’s lawyer to speak with his family, according to his wife, Lara.

“He told [his lawyer] that he was threatened by the Israeli forces and that they said that he would have no contact with anyone — not even his lawyer — that he would be there alone with no light, with no ventilation and, well, you know that’s psychological torture,” Lara Avila said in a recording on Wednesday.

A ruling Wednesday by the Israeli Detention Review Tribunal upheld the decision to hold the remaining eight volunteers in custody, and scheduled the next court hearing for July 8 if the activists aren’t deported before then. Adalah called the ruling “legal cover to arbitrary detention that could last for more than a month, without any judicial oversight, in violation of international law and activists’ rights.”

“Under international law, the detention of the eight remaining flotilla members is arbitrary, unlawful and must be immediately terminated and remedied,” U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese posted Wednesday on X. “The boat must be released. The states of nationality of the unlawfully detained, have an obligation to intervene, decisively and without delay.”

Many of the crew members who have spoken out maintain that the public should focus less on their situation and more on what they and many in the international community now call Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Israeli forces continue to drop bombs on Palestinians and any life-sustaining infrastructure while allowing minimal aid into the territory via a militarized distribution system — which has resulted in soldiers shooting at starving people in line for food.

“Please keep your focus on Gaza. People are starving, children are starving. Entire families are surviving without clean water, without food, without medicine – and this is happening on our watch,” detained activist Yasemin Acar said in a message read by her brother. “And by looking away, by staying silent, we’re complicit. There comes a point where looking away becomes a crime, and we’re there now.”

“Delivering aid is not a crime. Taking us against our will in international waters, is,” the message continued. “But our kidnapping is nothing compared to what’s happening in Gaza. Please keep your focus on the real issue.”

JERUSALEM (AP) — Activist Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel on Tuesday, the country’s Foreign Ministry said, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized by the Israeli military.

Thunberg left on a flight to France and was then headed to her home country of Sweden, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on X. It posted a photo of Thunberg, who shuns air travel, seated on a plane.

Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on the Madleen, a ship carrying aid to Gaza that was meant to protest Israel’s ongoing war there and shed light on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the journey.

Israeli naval forces seized the boat without incident early Monday about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off of Gaza’s coast, according to the coalition, which along with rights groups, said Israel’s actions were a violation of international law. Israel rejects that charge because it says such ships intend to breach what it says is a lawful naval blockade of Gaza.

The boat, accompanied by Israel’s navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod Monday evening, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing the activists, said Thunberg, two other activists and a journalist had agreed to be deported and leave Israel. The other eight activists refused deportation, were being held in detention and their case was set to be heard by Israeli authorities, Adalah said. The activists were expected to be brought before a court later Tuesday, the group added.

Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel’s Interior Ministry, said the activists who were being deported Tuesday had waived their right to appear before a judge. Those who did not will face one and will be held for 96 hours before being deported.

Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was also among the volunteers on board. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. It was not immediately clear whether she was being immediately deported or detained.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tuesday that one of the detained French activists signed an expulsion order and will leave Israel on Tuesday for France. The other five refused. He said all the activists received consular visits.

On Monday, Adalah, the rights group, said that Israel had “no legal authority” to take over the ship, because the group said it was in international waters and it was headed not to Israel but to the “territorial waters of the state of Palestine.” Amnesty International said Israel was flouting international law with the naval raid and called on Israel to release the activists immediately and unconditionally.

“The arrest of the unarmed activists, who operated in a civilian manner to provide humanitarian aid, amounts to a serious breach of international law,” Adalah said in a statement.

Israel viewed the ship as a publicity stunt, calling it the “selfie yacht.” Israeli officials said that the flotilla was bringing “meager” aid with what amounted to less than a truckload of goods.

Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris and Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces stopped a Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists early Monday and diverted it to Israel, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas.

“The ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel,” the Foreign Ministry said in a social media post. “The passengers are expected to return to their home countries.”

It said the humanitarian aid aboard the ship would be transferred to Gaza through established channels. It later circulated footage of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel handing out sandwiches and water to the activists, who were wearing orange life vests.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which had organized the voyage to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and protest Israel’s blockade and wartime conduct, said the activists had been “kidnapped by Israeli forces” and released pre-recorded messages from them.

Thunberg, a climate campaigner, was among 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which set sail from Sicily a week ago. Along the way, it had stopped on Thursday to rescue four migrants who had jumped overboard to avoid being detained by the Libyan coast guard.

Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was also among the volunteers on board. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.

After a 2½-month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive.

An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group’s vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Critics of the blockade say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Israel sealed Gaza off from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but later relented under U.S. pressure. In early March, shortly before Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas, the country again blocked all imports, including food, fuel and medicine.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages, more than half of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.

Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up most of the dead. It doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants.

The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory’s population, leaving people there almost completely dependent on international aid.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s government on Sunday vowed to prevent an aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists from reaching the Gaza Strip.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel wouldn’t allow anyone to break its naval blockade of the Palestinian territory, which he said was aimed at preventing Hamas from importing arms.

“To the antisemitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propagandists — I will say this clearly: You should turn back, because you will not make it to Gaza,” he said in a statement.

Thunberg, a climate campaigner, is among 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The vessel departed Sicily last Sunday on a mission that aims to break the sea blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid, while raising awareness over the growing humanitarian crisis 20 months into the Israel-Hamas war.

The activists had said they planned to reach Gaza’s territorial waters as early as Sunday.

Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian activist on board the boat, posted a video on social media Sunday afternoon saying someone appeared to be jamming their tracking and communication devices about 160 nautical miles from Gaza.

Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, is among the others onboard. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.

After a 2½-month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive.

An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group’s vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Critics of the blockade say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Israel sealed Gaza off from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but later relented under U.S. pressure. In early March, shortly before Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas, the country again blocked all imports, including food, fuel and medicine.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages, more than half of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.

Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up most of the dead. It doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants.

The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory’s population, leaving people there almost completely dependent on international aid.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war