The first group of French activists from the Global Sumud aid flotilla returned to Paris on Friday after being detained and then deported by Israel amid international outcry. They described what they said was a violent, humiliating ordeal – including sexual abuse – after they were detained by Israeli forces during the group's third attempt to break the blockade of the beleaguered Gaza Strip.
Eight French nationals arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris from Turkey on Friday afternoon to supporters shouting "Long live the resilience of the Palestinian people".
Two of the 36 French people who were on board the flotilla were still in hospital in Turkey, the returnees told awaiting reporters.
Read moreFrance condemns Israel as it deports 37 French nationals over Gaza flotilla
Holding a yellow rose and wearing a keffiyeh, Meriem Hadjal, 38, said she was detained on board one of the boats on Monday then transferred to Israel.
"They made us go one by one into a pitch-black container. I was groped," said Hadjal, an activist from the Waves of Freedom-France group.
"There were three soldiers in the container and a comrade on the ground with his trousers pulled down.
"One of them started touching my breasts. I then got huge deafening slaps to the head and the groping continued.
"I was terrified. I thought I was going to be raped at that moment," she added, claiming that a colleague was tortured with a stun weapon.
At Ashdod, in southern Israel, "we had to deal with Ben-Gvir's police who were extremely violent with us, humiliating, dehumanising", said Hadjal, referring to Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.
On Wednesday, Ben-Gvir sparked an outcry internationally but also within his own government by publishing a video of dozens of activists kneeling with their foreheads on the ground and their hands tied.
Read moreFar-right Israeli minister sparks outcry with video of bound and kneeling Gaza flotilla activists
'Terror'
Another activist, Adrien Bertel, described "a gratuitous escalation of humiliation, rights violations and terror".
Bertel, who took part in a previous attempt to break Israel's maritime blockade of the Palestinian territory, said that among the 430 people of different nationalities who were "kidnapped", "at least 37" had broken bones.
"At least 16" have reported sexual violence, he added.
During his two days of detention on the boat, Bertel, who is in his thirties, also spoke of "three soldiers in a container".
"Each of us stayed in there two or three minutes and they beat us up in the dark," he said.
"I had nail polish on. They immediately said 'gay', open homophobia. So that meant an extra layer of violence," he added.
Yasmine Scola said they slept with their hands tied behind their backs for 36 hours and had to go to the bathroom with the handcuffs on.
"It's actually quite a significant form of torture," she said, adding that she saw injured people left untreated.
She described women being subjected to humiliating "parades" where soldiers insulted or laughed at them.
At the port, she said she and the others were put in a "stress position", on their knees with their forehead on the ground for several hours, while the Israeli national anthem played on repeat.
Asked by AFP to respond to the claims of physical and psychological violence, sexual harassment, assault, and rape, the Israeli prison service said the accusations were "false and entirely without factual basis".
"All prisoners and detainees are held in accordance with the law, with respect for their fundamental rights under the supervision of professional and trained prison staff," a spokesperson said.
Before leaving the airport, the activists said they had experienced "a tiny part of what Palestinians endure, in silence" and called for protests to demand that the French government "take action".
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
