{"id":31773,"date":"2026-05-04T03:34:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T03:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=31773"},"modified":"2026-05-04T03:34:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T03:34:53","slug":"australian-activists-released-in-crete-allege-mistreatment-by-israeli-forces-who-intercepted-the-gaza-flotilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=31773","title":{"rendered":"Australian activists released in Crete allege mistreatment by Israeli forces who intercepted the Gaza flotilla"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Australian activists released in Crete allege mistreatment by Israeli forces who intercepted the Gaza flotilla<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian activists released in Crete allege mistreatment by Israeli forces who intercepted the Gaza flotilla<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Australians among 175 activists taken by Israel from ships attempting to transport aid to Gaza say they have launched a hunger strike<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Australian activists say they have launched a hunger strike in Crete, after being left there by Israeli authorities following the interception of a flotilla attempting to transport aid to Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethan Floyd, Neve O\u2019Connor and Zack Schofield \u2013 three of six Australians released<\/a> after their ships were intercepted on Wednesday<\/a> \u2013 said they and their colleagues were subjected to mistreatment while held for two days onboard an Israeli vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greek officials said 31 of the roughly 175 activists from the flotilla were taken to a hospital on Crete. Schofield said the three Australians have since been discharged from Sitia hospital but remain on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-two vessels were intercepted off the coast of Crete on Wednesday evening while travelling as part of the Global Sumud flotilla, which left Italy on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schofield, who spoke with Guardian Australia after his release, said the activists were held by Israel on a transport ship. He said the vessel had been retrofitted as a prison, with the main deck dominated by shipping containers surrounded by barbed wire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Zack<\/a>
Zack Schofield speaking in Sydney before flying to Italy for the flotilla. Photograph: Supplied<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Schofield alleged the protesters were subjected to violence by the Israeli forces, despite claims from Israel\u2019s foreign minister that they were \u201ctaken off unharmed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey took people into the fourth shipping container and beat them with the butts of their rifles and batons, and with their fists and their feet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw a man shot at point-blank range with a rubber bullet in the leg and in the back. A friend of mine who was in the American delegation told me he was dragged into that fourth shipping container and repeatedly kicked in the testicles, among many other places that they beat him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schofield alleged he witnessed a young Colombian woman being repeatedly punched in the ribs by an IDF soldier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guardian Australia has not independently verified Schofield\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described the treatment he received himself on board as \u201cmild violence\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had two flash-bang grenades thrown directly at my feet as I was sitting opposite the entrance to the prison yard, and I had to duck out of the way before they exploded in my face,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was forced into stress positions, kneeling on the floor for lengths of time with my head slammed against the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said crowded conditions meant about a quarter of the detainees were forced to sleep outside at any given time, and were flooded twice after Israeli soldiers pumped seawater over the deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guardian has sought comment from the IDF and the Israeli embassy in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schofield, Floyd and O\u2019Connor\u00a0announced via video<\/a>\u00a0that they had decided not to take any food from the Israelis \u201cas they continued their starvation of the Palestinian people\u201d, and until the Israeli authorities released two of the flotilla leaders, Thiago \u00c1vila from Brazil and Saif Abu Keshek from Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli foreign affairs ministry has confirmed \u00c1vila and Abu Keshek were to be transported back to Israel \u201cfor questioning\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis Hamas-led-flotilla is another provocation designed to divert attention from Hamas\u2019s refusal to disarm \u2013 and to serve the PR interests of professional provocateurs,\u201d Israel\u2019s foreign minister,\u201d Gideon Sa\u2019ar,\u00a0posted on X\u00a0<\/a>on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSaif Abu Keshek, suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organisation and Thiago \u00c1vila, suspected of illegal activity, will be brought to Israel for questioning. Israel will not allow the breach of the lawful naval blockade on\u00a0Gaza<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flotilla organisers said the detention of the two men was illegal and asked international governments to pressure Israel for their immediate release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several European governments with nationals among those arrested have called on Israel to free the activists and called its action a flagrant contravention of international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain demanded the immediate release of Keshek, a Spanish national.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sa\u2019ar has defended the operation, posting on X that the IDF \u201csuccessfully blocked attempts to breach the lawful naval blockade\u201d and insisting that all participants \u201cwere taken off unharmed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three other Australians \u2013 Bianca Webb-Pullman, Surya McEwen and Cameron Tribe \u2013 were also released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said consular staff were on the island to assist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are also continuing to liaise with local authorities in Israel and\u00a0Greece<\/a>,\u00a0including to confirm the detention of any Australians,\u201d a Dfat spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAustralia has been part of the international call on Israel to comply with the binding orders of the International Court of Justice, including to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe understand people want to respond to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but we continue to urge Australians not to join others seeking to break the Israeli naval blockade as they will be putting themselves and others at risk of injury, death, arrest or deportation.

\u201cWe encourage those wishing to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza to do so through established channels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporters in Australia were planning a paddle-out event on Sydney Harbour on Sunday to show solidarity with the flotilla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 with Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference Link:- https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/may\/02\/gaza-flotilla-australian-activists-released-crete-allege-mistreatment-by-israel-ntwnfb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian activists released in Crete allege mistreatment by Israeli forces who intercepted the Gaza flotilla Australian activists released in Crete allege mistreatment by Israeli forces who intercepted the Gaza flotilla Three Australians among 175 activists taken by Israel from ships attempting to transport aid to Gaza say they have launched a hunger strike Three Australian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31776,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31773\/revisions\/31776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}