US journalist recounts Israeli torture after Gaza aid flotilla raid

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
Today 13:45
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Noa Avishag Schnall and other Freedom Flotilla activists have exposed brutal beatings, sexual threats, and torture by Israeli forces after their Gaza-bound aid ships were raided.

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Noa Avishag Schnall, a Los Angeles-born and Paris-based photojournalist, is seen before and after captivity in Ktzi'ot Prison in the Israeli-occupied territories. (Social media)

An American journalist has exposed harrowing accounts of torture, sexual threats, and inhumane treatment by Israeli forces after they violently intercepted a Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla in international waters, another incident highlighting "Israel's" ongoing campaign to crush global solidarity with Palestinians living under siege.

Noa Avishag Schnall, a Jewish-American photojournalist and member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), said the Conscience vessel was carrying medical and respiratory supplies to Gaza when it was attacked around 5 am on October 8. "Our boat, the Conscience, was attacked in international waters around 5 a.m. Wednesday morning. The brutality began immediately," she said in a video following her release from Israeli custody.

Appearing with visible bruises and a black eye, Schnall described how detainees were subjected to "extreme brutality" from the moment of capture. "We were taken through multiple levels of administration and the first of many strip searches; at least one woman has reported being physically penetrated by guards who laughed at her pain," she recounted.

In a video dispatch recorded hours after her release, L.A.-born and Paris-based Jewish photojournalist Noa Avishag Schnall recounts the Israeli military assault on the Freedom Flotilla vessel The Conscience — a ship of medics and journalists bound for Gaza, attacked in… https://t.co/8vTy8UfB40 pic.twitter.com/HdeyF1EFre
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) October 14, 2025

Schnall said Israeli guards beat and humiliated prisoners, stole their belongings, and forced them into stress positions. "I was hung from the metal shackles on my wrists and ankles and beaten in the stomach, back, face, ear, and skull by a group of men and women guards, one of whom sat on my neck and face, blocking my airways," she said. "During the evening, the men were tormented by guards with attack dogs and guns. The women were threatened with pepper spray. Our cell was awoken with threats of rape."

Flotilla abuse exposed

These disturbing revelations echo those offered by other flotilla participants and activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla who said they endured beatings, insults, deprivation of sleep and medication, dog attacks, forced nudity, forced wearing of Israeli flags, and other degrading treatment while held in Ketziot prison in al-Naqab. Some identified journalists and lawyers said their legal rights were denied during detention.

South African activists, including Mandla Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, claimed even harsher treatment, with two women saying their hijabs were forcibly removed and they were stripped naked before guards. They said the abuse was in retaliation for their country's genocide case against "Israel".

Human rights monitors like the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OMCT) condemned what they called "Israel's" "arbitrary detention and breaches of the absolute prohibition of torture" directed at flotilla activists. They argue the treatment reflects a state policy of criminalizing peaceful humanitarian missions.

Blockade violence intensifies

The Conscience raid was the latest in a series of Israeli raids. Just days earlier, forces abducted more than 450 activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters. Those detainees were transferred to Israeli detention centers, many in Ketziot, a prison long criticized for human rights abuses.

"Israel" has maintained a near-absolute naval blockade over Gaza for nearly two decades, restricting access to food, medicine, and fuel for 2.4 million Palestinians. In recent months, the rules have tightened even further, precipitating a humanitarian collapse even before the intensification of aerial bombardments that have claimed more than 67,000 lives, mostly civilians.

Advocacy groups and flotilla organizers have denounced the raid and detention practices as clear violations of international law and pushed for an independent investigation. The FFC affirmed that no amount of violence or intimidation will deter its commitment to aid and solidarity with the Palestinian people.