Demonstrators holding Palestinian flags gather at Piazza dei Cinquecento during a rally held as part of a general strike called by trade unions to protest rearmament programs, condemn the genocide against Palestinians, and support the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, in Rome, Italy on May 18, 2026. [Claudia Chieppa – Anadolu Agency]
The Arab legal rights centre in Israel, Adalah, said it had documented severe violence, including electric shocks, physical and psychological abuse, and broken ribs, against detainees from the Global Sumud Flotilla by Israeli forces.
In a statement issued on Wednesday evening and received by Anadolu Agency, the centre said its legal team had “provided legal consultations to hundreds of detainees” who took part in the flotilla, amid testimonies of “severe violence,” humiliation and serious injuries allegedly inflicted by Israeli forces.
The statement came after widespread anger and condemnation following a video showing far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir overseeing what was described as the mistreatment of detained activists.
The video showed detainees kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs and their foreheads on the ground.
Adalah said its lawyers, along with a team of volunteer legal professionals, had left the port of Ashdod after providing legal assistance to hundreds of detainees held following the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
It added that its team had been unable to meet all detainees because of “tight restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities”.
The centre also said all detainees had undergone initial procedures before Israeli immigration authorities, and that most were being transferred to Ketziot prison in the Negev desert in southern Israel.
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