Australian flotilla activist says dozens hospitalised after being detained by Israel
This story contains references to sexual assault.
Gemma O’Toole is one of eleven Australians who were detained by Israel over their participation in the Global Sumud Flotilla’s latest attempt to deliver aid to Gaza.
She said the treatment of detainees seen in video footage shared by Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was just “an infinitesimal amount” of how Israeli authorities treated them while they were in detention.
Ben-Gvir’s video, which was released last week, shows him mocking detained flotilla activists, some of whom are being handled roughly by Israel Defense Forces personnel.
The video also shows him behaving the same way towards dozens of other detainees who can be seen kneeling, their faces placed on the ground and their hands zip-tied behind their backs, while IDF personnel look on.
O’Toole says she visited five other activists who have been hospitalised after being released by Israel, including a friend who had a “broken sternum and a collapsed lung”.
Her account also reflects claims made by other released activists that some people detained were sexually assaulted by members of the IDF, alleging there were “dozens and dozens of sexual assaults”.
O’Toole’s father, law academic Patrick Keyzer, told reporters: “If that’s what they’re prepared to do to Australians on camera, imagine what they’re doing to Palestinians who are locked up for years and years and years”.
He says Gemma’s family wants an audience with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss Israel’s treatment of her and the other detainees.
SBS News asked Albanese if he was open to the request. The prime minister replied that he was not “going to respond without any notice” for someone whose “circumstances” he didn’t know.
He went on to say that Ben-Gvir’s treatment of the activists seen in the footage that was released was “not consistent” with how Australia wanted Australians or “anyone treated”.
“That minister’s behaviour and his rhetoric were not consistent with what I would expect,” he said.
The Israel Defense Forces rejected claims of abuse in a statement to the ABC.
“IDF orders require respectful and appropriate treatment of flotilla participants on the intercepted vessels, and there are clear and established procedures in this regard,” it said.
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