Canadian Gaza flotilla activist says he was beaten for days in Israeli detention

WARNING: This article contains details of sexual abuse. It may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it. 

A Montreal activist released from Israeli custody after being detained along with hundreds of others on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla said he was beaten, abused for days and stabbed in the hand by a prison guard, as Ottawa calls for accountability over the mistreatment of its citizens.

Ehab Lotayef, human rights activist and IT manager at McGill University, was aboard the boat dubbed “Perseverance” when it was intercepted by armed Israeli forces on Monday. Lotayef said all eight people aboard the Canadian-Australian vessel were forced to undress and hand over any items on them before soldiers took control of the boat and transfered them to an Israeli naval vessel.

The vessel had a makeshift prison constructed of barbed wire and metal shipping containers, according to Global Sumud Flotilla.

“They took us one by one in a dark room and they started beating us,” Lotayef said.

“My ribs are in pain till now, they broke my glasses, [punched and kicked me] with military boots and then they threw us into the area where they imprisoned us. I have bruises on all my ribs, back and front and left and right.”

Lotayef, 67, was among hundreds of activists who were participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition who arrived in Turkey Thursday after being released from Israeli detention. Israel’s forces intercepted dozens of vessels earlier this week, arresting and detaining more than 400 people from different countries on international waters.

The allegations of abuse, which Israel has denied, have added to already mounting pressure on Israeli authorities to explain the treatment of the detainees, after far-right Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video of himself lambasting protesters detained in what appeared to be an outdoor Israeli port facility.

Lotayef said at one point he was instructed by one of the Israeli soldiers to hand out water but another soldier saw what he was doing and slashed his hand with a knife, cutting open his hand between his middle and index finger. He was hospitalized after landing in Turkey and received six stitches on his hand.

CBC News reached out to Israel’s prison service and the Embassy of Israel about the allegations but did not immediately hear back. Israel’s prison service denied any abuse allegations in relation to flotilla activists detainment this week.

Reports of physical, sexual and psychological abuse

In a statement on Friday, Global Sumud Flotilla said it had documented at least 12 sexual assaults on the naval vessel, including anal rape and forcible penetration by a handgun.

The group said flotilla activists were subjected to “humiliating strip searches, sexual taunting, groping and pulling of genitals and multiple accounts of rape.”

Detainees were reportedly thrown into the containers, beaten over the head and ribs and tased in the face, neck and body, the group said, and reported torture, extreme stress positions and prolonged interrogations.

Lotayef and other activists said some of the alleged abuse took place at sea after their interception by Israeli naval forces, and some following their arrest and imprisonment in Israel.

Lotayef said he and other detainees were subjected to physical and psychological torture as they were made to watch videos of militant group Hamas and were struck on the head as soldiers repeatedly asked “Is this terrorism or not?”

He said soldiers transferred the activists from the port to a prison on a bus. “We have no idea of time. We have no idea of direction or space. Many people have difficulty breathing — some people with head injuries, some people with pain all over their bodies because they were tasered.”

Israel’s prison service denied the allegations in a statement to Reuters, saying reports of mistreatment are “without factual basis.”

“All prisoners and detainees are held in accordance with the law, with full regard for their basic rights and under the supervision of professional and trained prison staff,” it said.

According to Global Sumud Canada, 12 Canadian citizens were among the participants on the latest flotilla effort aiming to break ​Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance.

Earlier Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand called on Israeli officials responsible for “appalling abuse” of Canadian activists to be held accountable.

“I have just received information from my officials which details the appalling abuse of Canadians who were detained in Israel,” the minister said in a post on X on Friday. “Canada unequivocally condemns the grave mistreatment of Canadians in Israel.”

Canadians met with consular officials after arriving in Istanbul, Anand said, and were undergoing medical checks.

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday called Israel’s treatment of flotilla members “abominable” and “unacceptable.”

Ottawa calls for accountability

Canadian officials’ latest condemnation marked an unusually sharp rebuke of a close ally.

“Those responsible for this egregious abuse must be held accountable,” Anand said Friday, after Israel’s ambassador was summoned over the matter.

But Lotayef said government officials’ statements do not go far enough in addressing the mistreatment of Canadians, and called for the country to cut ties with Israel.

“I wouldn’t say this is appalling abuse. I would say this is criminal. I would say this is racist, torture, criminal actions by a criminal state that Canada should be ashamed to have relationships with,” Lotayef said. 

Canada has gradually hardened its line on Israel under Carney, who announced last September that Canada would recognize Palestinian statehood, angering Israeli leadership.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said although Israel has every right to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,” Ben-Gvir’s treatment of the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms.”

Ben-Gvir was sanctioned by Canada last year, along with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for “extremist rhetoric” and for repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Both are banned from travelling to the country.

Ontario Liberal MP Salma Zahid called for Canada to impose “strong, broad-based” sanctions against the Netanyahu government due to Ben-Gvir remaining in cabinet.

“Clearly, Netanyahu supports and endorses his Minister’s violent and illegal behaviour,” she wrote. “Canada’s support for human rights and international law must be backed by action.”

Israel has maintained a sea blockade of Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. Israeli authorities intensified it after the Hamas-led militant attacks on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, according to its tallies.

Critics say the blockade amounts to collective punishment. Israel says it’s intended to prevent Hamas from arming itself.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive following the Oct. 7 attacks that started the war has killed more than 72,700 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

UN ‘very concerned’ with abuse reports

Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Friday that the United Nations is “very concerned” by the reports of abuse.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council that countries are right to be outraged at how flotilla activists from their countries were treated — but he said what Ben-Gvir did “is the tip of the iceberg” of how Israel treats Palestinian prisoners.

Dozens of boats departed from the Turkish port of Marmaris on May 14, as part of a regrouped flotilla effort after Israel stopped some 20 boats setting sail from Spain to Gaza near the southern Greek island of Crete on April 30, forcing most of its activists to disembark.  

Israeli forces began stopping the boats about 268 kilometres from the Gaza coastline, according to the flotilla’s website. 

Last year, Israeli authorities blocked a similar attempt involving roughly 500 activists in which Israel arrested, detained and later deported the participants, who also claimed Israeli authorities abused them. Israeli authorities denied the accusations.

Lotayef said him and the hundreds of activists went on the latest mission to highlight the “much more difficult” reality on the ground in Gaza.

“Palestinians live this day in and day out for the last 78 years, not knowing if there is an end in sight. Some of them have been in this kind of detention … and the world is silent,” he said.

“So does it have to happen to us for the world to wake up? I’m happy it did if that’s what [wakes] the world up.”