by Ezequiel Peressini, Coordinator of the Sumud Global Flotilla and leader of Socialist Left and the IWU-FI
May 21, 2026. After being kidnapped and held in Ketziot prison by Israeli occupation forces, the activists of the Sumud Global Flotilla have been released and taken to Istanbul, Turkey.
The human rights organization Adalah, which has taken up the defense of detainees and has a long history of activism in occupied Palestine, reported early on May 21 that the activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) detained at the Ketziot detention center have been released and are in the process of being deported. Adalah emphasizes that the entire operation, from the illegal interception in international waters to the systematic torture, humiliation, and arbitrary detention of peaceful activists, constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.
Thanks to global solidarity with Palestine and the condemnation of the genocide, the participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla were transferred from the Israeli airport of Ramon, built on the Palestinian lands of the village of Umm Al Rashrash, whose population was expelled during the Nakba of 1948, to Turkey. In Istanbul, thanks to the efforts of the Turkish delegation of the Sumud Global Flotilla, the individuals were released and will undergo medical and psychological evaluations and receive necessary medical assistance. They will also testify before Turkish judicial authorities to file a class-action lawsuit against Israel for the violence perpetrated and the illegal nature of their kidnapping and imprisonment.
The Extreme Violence of the Abduction
Adalah’s legal team denounces systematic violations of due process and widespread physical and psychological abuse by Israeli authorities against the activists. This violence resulted in serious and widespread injuries, including at least three people who were hospitalized and later discharged. The lawyers documented dozens of participants with alleged rib fractures and the resulting difficulty breathing. The reports also indicated the frequent use of Tasers against the participants, as well as injuries sustained from rubber bullets during the interception of the flotilla’s boats and on the military vessel to which they were transferred.
The detained activists were subjected to extreme violence both on the boats and during the transfer between the boats and the port. Furthermore, the authorities forced them into stress positions; while being moved through the port, they were forced to walk bent completely forward while guards violently held their backs. The participants were also forced to kneel inside the vessel for extended periods. In addition to this physical abuse, the participants were subjected to severe degradation, sexual harassment, and humiliation. Furthermore, several female participants had their hijabs ripped off by Israeli authorities.
Worldwide condemnation of the criminal Ben Gvir and the State of Israel
Despite the extreme violence, the release of the imprisoned comrades is another victory for the global mobilization and struggle in support of Palestine, among which the mobilizations and strikes in Italy on May 18th stood out. The global mobilisation has once again prevented Ben Gvir from achieving his fascist objectives of treating as terrorists the activists who were delivering humanitarian aid to the devastated city of Gaza. The public intimidation by which the Israeli Security Minister humiliated the imprisoned activists has caused widespread shock and condemnation, prompting the governments of Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Canada to convene their diplomatic authorities to express their rejection. The global outrage was so resounding that even Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel and convicted of genocide by the International Criminal Court, stated that Ben Gvir’s actions are not “in line with Israel’s values,” opening cracks in Israel’s far-right regime. Netanyahu is trying to wash his hands of the matter and evade responsibility for his actions, even though he himself was responsible for the kidnapping and actively monitored the interception and abduction carried out by Israeli military forces on social media.
Despite the repression and the arrest and abduction of more than 178 activists on April 29, the flotilla continued its voyage to Gaza and secured the release of its two imprisoned international leaders, Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek. With a second round of interceptions and abductions carried out between May 18 and 19, Israel sought to disarm the flotilla and strike a blow against the global movement in solidarity with Palestine, but they have not succeeded. The release of the 428 comrades is yet another victory in the mobilizations and actions carried out in various countries, where we massively demanded the release of those kidnapped and condemned the United States and Donald Trump for declaring the Flotilla and its leaders and members as terrorist activists.
The victory of our comrades’ release will be transformed into further organization, mobilization, and a permanent struggle for the freedom of the more than 9,500 Palestinian political prisoners who remain in the prisons of the Zionist state under the threat of the death penalty. From the International Workers’ Unity – Fourth International (IWU-FI), we are and will be part of the Sumud Global Flotilla to continue promoting the unity of those who struggle, to redouble support for the Palestinian resistance, which is not yet defeated, until the blockade is broken and the Zionist occupation of Gaza and all of historic Palestine is expelled, and to deepen the internationalist struggle for a free Palestine from the river to the sea.
