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'We were treated like animals', deported Gaza flotilla activists say <article data-history-node-id="429667" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/we-were-treated-animals-deported-gaza-flotilla-activists-say" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/we-were-treated-animals-deported-gaza-flotilla-activists-say" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">'We were treated like animals', deported Gaza flotilla activists say</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>International activists who arrived in Istanbul after being deported from Israel following the military's interception of their Gaza-bound flotilla said Saturday they had been subjected to violence and "treated like animals". </p> <p>The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month seeking to ferry aid to war-battered Gaza but Israel blocked the boats, detaining more than 400 people whom it began deporting on Friday.</p> <p>Of that number, 137 activists from 13 countries flew into Istanbul on Saturday, among them 36 Turkish nationals.  </p> <p>"They put us on our knees, facing down. And if we moved, they hit us. They were laughing at us, insulting us and hitting us," Paolo Romano, a regional councillor from Lombardy in Italy said. </p> <p> “They dragged little Greta (Thunberg) by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,” Anadolu Agency reported Turkish activist and Sumud Flotilla participant Ersin Celik saying.</p> <figure role="group" class="media-block"> <div class="group-inner"> <div alt="A screengrab from a live stream video shows Israeli navy forces aboard the Gaza-bound vessel Captain Nikos, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted on 2 October 2025 (Global Sumud Flotilla/Handout/Reuters)" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="20b14ace-3617-4e29-b597-139eca8c9af0" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"> <img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/images-story/greta-thunberg-israel-soldier-interception-sumud-flotilla-afp.jpg" width="2000" height="1125" alt="A screengrab from a live stream video shows Israeli navy forces aboard the Gaza-bound vessel Captain Nikos, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted on 2 October 2025 (Global Sumud Flotilla/Handout/Reuters)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"> </div> <figcaption>A screengrab from a live stream video shows Israeli navy forces aboard the Gaza-bound vessel Captain Nikos, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted on 2 October 2025 (Global Sumud Flotilla/Handout/Reuters)</figcaption> </div> </figure> <p><span style="background: url("https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png") rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"><img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p> </div> </div> </article> https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/we-were-treated-animals-deported-gaza-flotilla-activists-say