ISTANBUL
Former Libyan Prime Minister Omar al-Hassi described harsh detention conditions and threats by Israeli forces after he was detained along with hundreds of international activists following an attack on an aid flotilla heading to Gaza.
Al-Hassi, who led the National Salvation Government in Tripoli from 2014 to 2015, spoke to Anadolu on Saturday after landing at Istanbul Airport aboard a plane carrying deported activists from Israel’s Ramon Airport in Eilat.
He said Israeli forces attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters, ignoring activists’ repeated assertions that they were civilians carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“We told the (Israeli) forces that boarded our ship that we are civilian activists going to Gaza. We are not confronting you, and we don’t want to meet you in Gaza’s or any territorial waters. We don’t represent a threat,” al-Hassi said.
According to the former premier, Israeli forces seized the ship “through modern military piracy” and transferred activists on board to a port, where they were held handcuffed in an open area.
He said far-right Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived and threatened the detainees with torture and imprisonment, accusing them of supporting Hamas.
“We told him we are messengers from the world carrying aid from Europe, Türkiye, North Africa, Latin America, the US, and even Jews who love peace,” al-Hassi said, adding that Ben-Gvir responded “in a bloody, racist way” and displayed “utter contempt for international activists.”
He said conditions worsened after Ben-Gvir’s visit, with detainees, including elderly people and women, subjected to degrading treatment. They spent more than eight hours in poor conditions before being taken for searches in a port warehouse, where their personal belongings were confiscated.
By dawn, armored vehicles transferred the detained activists “in prisoner-like conditions” to detention facilities believed to be in southern Israel, he added, describing further deterioration in treatment, including intensified interrogations and deprivation of water, food, and medical care.
He expressed gratitude to the Turkish government and people for the warm reception and support upon their arrival, saying it helped ease the suffering they endured.
“We are truly sorry we could not reach Gaza’s children,” he concluded.
Israeli naval forces attacked and seized vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla on Thursday and detained more than 470 activists from over 50 countries while sailing to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and challenge Israel’s blockade of the enclave.
Israel has maintained the blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for almost 18 years.
Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed over 66,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it all but uninhabitable.