Hunter activist Zack Schofield and other Australian members of a flotilla that tried to deliver aid to Gaza have been welcomed home in emotional airport scenes after being freed from detention in Israel.
Mr Schofield was one of 11 Australians among the 400 people detained by Israel last week in international waters west of Cyprus.
The broader group of flotilla participants allege they suffered abuse at the hands of Israeli forces including broken limbs, sexual assaults, tasers to the face and being injected with unknown substances.
Seven of the Australian contingent arrived in Sydney on Monday morning. The rest were due to arrive in Melbourne and Brisbane.
The Sydney flotilla participants returned triumphant, with fists and peace signs held high as they reunited with loved ones.
Zack Schofield embraced his parents and partner before speaking to the media and supporters.
"Israel is an ally of Australia and it has been shown to systematically rape Palestinians in their prisons as policy," he said.
"It has been shown to shoot Palestinians at aid sites for fun, to continue to bomb them in their own homes, to raise homes in Lebanon to the ground, to loot those homes, and we know this because their soldiers brag about it."
Mr Schofield criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for "continuing to be a friend of Israel".
"As long as our government continues to call Israel a friend, how can we be proud to be Australians?"
"We were taken to prison and treated really poorly," Mr Schofield said on Friday when he spoke for the first time since his detention.
"Many of us hadn't eaten for days. We were denied water for two days.
"I have friends that were shocked with tasers, stun guns for extended periods of time just on entry to prison, were beaten.
"But it is nothing compared to what happens to Palestinians in the occupied territories every single day."
Mr Schofield was arrested for the second time last week.
He had previously spent two days in Israeli military custody earlier this month over his participation in the same flotilla.
"The message to our Australian government is that they need to cut ties with Israel. We need to cancel the alliance, stop sending them weapons parts, stop giving them political support," Mr Schofield said.
Mr Schofield's mother, Joanne Jaworowski, had led impassioned pleas to the federal government to intervene to ensure the protesters' safety.
"We have been in a state of hyper-vigilance and extreme stress for so long, hugging Zack this morning felt like finally reaching a life raft," she said on Monday.
"It was hugely relieving to have him in my arms.
"While I am relieved that they are home, I am still angry that the Australian government is yet to unequivocally condemn Israel for illegally kidnapping Australian citizens in international waters and subjecting them to such violence.
"These 11 brave humanitarian volunteers went on this mission to attempt to deliver life-saving aid to the people of Palestine.
"The fact is that a country that Australia calls an ally prevented that aid from being delivered.
"Zack and the other Australians would never have needed to go on this mission if the Australian government was fulfilling our commitment to the Geneva conventions; if our government were doing all that they can to end the genocide in Palestine and help let aid flow."
A large contingent of supporters, including family, friends and federal senators greeted them on arrival with rapturous applause and chants of "free, free Palestine".
This was the third attempt by Mr McEwen, a dual diagnosis care worker from Mullumbimby, to deliver aid to Gaza via a flotilla.
During his most recent detention, he was held for 80 hours and alleges he was beaten in a room while Israeli soldiers sang the national anthem.
Mr McEwen likened the prison ships used by Israel to prisoner of war camps with nowhere to sleep, few toilets and platforms from which soldiers indiscriminately fired rubber bullets.
"We're all very tired, battered and bruised," he told AAP during a stopover before arriving in Sydney.
"While I was imprisoned, I thought of the thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, hundreds among them children, and many being held without reason."
Other Australians on board the flotilla allege they were denied food and water and physically assaulted.
Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was also widely condemned after he posted a video of himself taunting detainees while they knelt with their heads on the ground, with their hands zip-tied behind their backs.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the government had "in the strongest possible terms" raised its concerns both in Australia and Israel.
"The treatment of those Australians and people from many other countries as well has been disgraceful," he told ABC TV on Monday.
"We're really glad that the Australians are starting now to return home and reunite with their families, but this has been a particularly concerning event."
Israel's foreign ministry has labelled the flotilla a "provocation for the sake of provocation" and has previously denied the participants' allegations of abuse.
Members of the aid delegation are speaking with lawyers about their experience.
They want evidence collated to be used at the International Criminal Court to support the abuse claims of Palestinians.
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi was at the airport to welcome the activists.
"It was an honour to welcome home to our brave Global Sumud Flotilla participants who have kept our hope alive and who carried with them not just aid, but humanity, love, and a commitment to a free Palestine," she said.
"The kidnapping, abuse, torture, and violence they were forced to endure at the hands of Israel is depraved, but I can see that their spirits remain unbroken.
"We are so proud and grateful to all of them and their families.
"They give so many others the inspiration to keep speaking out for Palestine and holding our own government to account.
"The world has been horrified to see the treatment by Israel of civilians on a legal mission to deliver life-saving aid and break the illegal siege of Gaza, just as the world has been horrified by Israel's genocide, mass murder and starvation of Palestinians over the last two-and-a-half years."
With reporting by AAP
