Legal aid group: Ben Gvir endorsing 'abuse' of detained flotilla activists in prison

The Adalah legal aid organization, representing activists from the recently intercepted Gaza flotilla, says National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s comments about being proud of the harsh treatment of the participants are an “endorsement of inhumane treatment, abuse, and intimidation” of the activists.

The organization says its lawyers have so far met with and taken testimony from 80 flotilla participants at the Ketziot prison where they are being held.

Adalah’s lawyers also met with dozens of flotilla activists when they were first processed by Israeli authorities after being brought ashore at Ashdod port, but the organizations says some 87 activists have not met with a lawyer at any stage since they were intercepted at sea, the organization adds.

The various Israeli authorities involved are yet to provide Adalah with a full list of detainees from the flotilla.

Climate and pro-Palestinian activist Greta Thunberg, a flotilla participant, met with one of Adalah’s lawyers at the port, but has not been able to meet with a lawyer since then.

According to the Global Sumud Flotilla organization, 328 activists are still being held in Israel.

Italian Democratic party leader Elly Schlein, right, welcomes members of Italian Parliament Arturo Scotto, left, and Annalisa Corrado upon their landing at the Rome Leonardo da Vinci airport after being released by Israeli authorities following their detention for being aboard boats of the Global Sumud flotilla, which declared its intent to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, but was intercepted. (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP)

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that 137 flotilla activists have been deported so far.

Adalah says that activists in their testimonies have said they have been denied essential medical treatment and medicine; that the provision of food and water is “grossly inadequate;” and that the detainees are being held in overcrowded and sometimes insanitary cells.

Other flotilla activists have told the lawyers that they were subjected to physical violence, while others said they were blindfolded and handcuffed for prolonged periods.

The Israeli authorities only permitted two of Adalah’s lawyers to enter Ketziot today to deal with the more than 300 activists who were detained from the flotilla.

A spokesperson for the organization says that at the current pace, she doubts the lawyers will be able to finish meeting with all detainees even before the end of Monday, especially given that Monday is the eve of the Sukkot holiday.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Israel Prison Service, and the Immigration and Population Authority of the Interior Ministry are yet to respond to requests for comment from The Times of Israel on the number and status of the detainees still in Israel.