Archiv: Zeugen / witnesses


27.05.2026 - 18:23 [ Common Dreams ]

Global Sumud Flotilla Urges Probe of US Complicity in Members’ Abduction and Torture by Israel

That vessel, the amphibious landing ship INS Nahshon, was built by Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding in Louisiana and was fully financed by the US government. GSF activists first became aware of what they now call the “torture boat” when it was used to detain members of the previous Gaza-bound flotilla, dozens of whom required medical attention for broken ribs, noses, and other injuries inflicted by Israeli forces.

This time, according to GSF, “detained humanitarians, doctors, and journalists were processed one by one through a darkened shipping container. Inside, groups of three to five soldiers systematically brutalized each person who came through the door while those waiting outside listened to the screams.”

25.05.2026 - 12:10 [ Global Sumud Flotilla ]

Global Sumud Flotilla Releases Horrific, Newly Emerging Testimonies as Survivors Return Home

May 24, 2026 INTERNATIONAL – As civilian participants from the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) begin landing in their respective home countries and some continue their recovery in Istanbul, the full, devastating scale of the violence executed by the israeli Occupation Forces (iOF) is being laid bare. Following the most recent unlawful interception of the flotilla in international waters on 18 May, newly emerging and harrowing testimonies confirm a coordinated campaign of systematic torture, severe physical and psychological trauma, and targeted gender-based and sexual violence.

(The violence reported in this release covers only the second of two illegal israeli interceptions that took place during the Spring 2026 flotilla mission; the first attack took place on 29 April off the coast of Crete, which also had numerous reports of sexual violence, rape and physical injuries including 35 people requiring medical care for broken noses, ribs and injuries from rubber bullets deployed by it iOF.)

25.05.2026 - 12:00 [ Global Sumud Flotilla ]

Global Sumud Flotilla Volunteers Recount Abuse on ‘Torture Boat’

(May 22, 2026)

In what is believed to be the US-built-and-funded INS Nahshon, detainees were “processed” one by one, and taken into darkened containers where groups of iOF commandos brutalised them one by one. Yassine Benjelloun, who had sailed on a previous flotilla mission and expected comparable treatment, described the moment of entry:

„He throws me in a container that is dark, and all of a sudden, I hear, “Welcome to israel. ” And I start getting hit, like first hit on the head, second hit in the ribs, then I fall, then they kick me. And I‘m hearing people screaming, and all of a sudden people stop screaming, and I don‘t see anything, and I don‘t know what‘s going to happen. “ — Yassine Benjelloun

Adrien Berthel, France, described being singled out for targeted humiliation and beating after iOF soldiers noticed he was wearing nail polish and made assumptions about his sexuality.

Veronica Otero, participant number 22 to board, witnessed the processing of nearly all 180 detainees across three days:

„I can say that all were in many ways abused, not one single person walking with nothing. Among them there were 36 fractures, many broken ribs, torso, shoulders, and back. People were in agony. People were not breathing [due to the broken ribs]. „— Veronica Otero

At least 12 sexual assaults have been documented on that vessel alone, including anal rape and forcible penetration by a handgun. iOF soldiers tased volunteers in the face, neck and body, the strikes multiplying with each new group brought in. Multiple volunteers report being photographed during strip searches and guards laughing throughout.

22.05.2026 - 13:50 [ Ounka / X ]

A Global Sumud Flotilla participant just testified from the depths of an Israeli detention center

„I was illegally kidnapped by Israel – like 425 other people.“

„Handcuffs on my hands and feet. Dragged me. When I couldn‘t walk, they dragged me on the ground.“

„They hit us. Hurt all of us a lot. Handcuffs so tight my hands lost feeling.“

„They laughed all the time. Super sadistic.“

„Took off my shirt. Took pictures. Mistreated us all night long.“

Then she delivered her message to the world:

„Shame on you. Shame on all of you. Shame on every government that keeps trading with Israel. My government is complicit. Europe is complicit. The whole world is complicit.“

22.05.2026 - 13:47 [ Thiago Ávila / X ]

Warning: distressful content!

Those genocidal maniacs RAPED humanitarian activist trying to take food and medicine to children in Gaza! And the worst is that even this they escalate to much worse forms with the 9000 Palestinians in israeli dungeons (almost 400 children)!

22.05.2026 - 13:36 [ PalMedia / X ]

Global Sumud Flotilla activist Juliet Lamont describes severe abuse by Israel: “I was tied with cables, water tortured, and sexually assaulted. People had broken ribs, were tased in the face, and injected with unknown sedatives.”

(…)

22.05.2026 - 13:15 [ Furkan Gözükara / Youtube ]

Terrifying revelation. A Global Sumud Flotilla captain shows his back completely covered in massive bruises from Israeli forces.

He confirms the horrific reality that Arabic and non-white captives were beaten much worse.

22.05.2026 - 13:06 [ NBC News / Youtube ]

Deported Gaza flotilla activists allege abuse while detained in Israel

(…)

22.05.2026 - 12:56 [ BBC ]

‚I could not stay silent‘, says activist who shouted at Ben-Gvir

Catriona Graham was one of hundreds of activists who were detained by Israel this week while trying to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza by boat.

Israel‘s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir later posted a video showing himself taunting the activists as they kneeled with their hands tied behind their backs.

28.04.2026 - 18:14 [ Tracy Ellin / Youtube ]

Steven Sotloff Reporting on Benghazi for CNN

(report from October 12, 2012)

1:56
1 minute, 56 seconds
so it‘s definitely something that they may have heard in advance um as as far as uh what they were wearing and thinking if they were wondering if they were Libyan or not some people were
2:04
2 minutes, 4 seconds
wearing an Afghan G that you just don‘t see in this part of the country um they weren‘t speaking the local dialect they were speaking a classical Arabic uh
2:12
2 minutes, 12 seconds
dialect which you usually get from Quran Scholars so it‘s unsure they‘re unsure where these people came from um but they belied some of them were not local and
2:20
2 minutes, 20 seconds
these guys described to you how they were afraid for their lives uh they have not they‘ve gone into hiding now and they essentially feel abandoned by the
2:29
2 minutes, 29 seconds
American government why do they feel that way I mean why do they still feel that they‘re under threat

10.04.2026 - 18:19 [ Middle East Eye ]

‘We felt death’: Survivors recount Israel’s massacre in Beirut

The first thing Abdelwahab noticed was the silence after the blast.

Then came the smoke, the screams – and the realisation that the bodies he was pulling from the rubble belonged to people he knew.

It was shortly after 2pm on Wednesday when across Lebanon, Israeli warplanes had launched a heavy wave of air strikes on densely populated areas, including in Beirut, its southern suburbs, the eastern Beqaa governorate and southern villages.

The simultaneous strikes killed more than 300 people and wounded over 1,150, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

27.02.2026 - 14:32 [ Colombia Spectator ]

ICE arrests Columbia student, Shipman says agents lied to enter University-owned residence

(February 26, 2026)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Elmina “Ellie” Aghayeva, GS ’26, in a Columbia Residential building Thursday morning, after acting University President Claire Shipman, CC ’86, SIPA ’94, announced that agents had lied in order to enter a residential building and detain an affiliate.

A person with knowledge of the situation told Spectator that ICE agents impersonated New York Police Department officers in order to enter Aghayeva’s dorm.

Aghayeva’s arrest marks the fourth of a Columbia affiliate amid the federal government’s immigration crackdown, which has continued to target international students at the University.

25.01.2026 - 16:06 [ New York Times ]

In Court Filings, Witnesses Describe Fatal Minneapolis Shooting of Alex Pretti

The filings raise further questions about the federal government’s narrative of what happened before federal agents shot Alex Jeffrey Pretti on Saturday.

23.01.2026 - 15:31 [ Jerusalem Post ]

Netanyahu trial: Prosecutors press PM on Elovich ties, conflict-of-interest deals in Case 4000

Tirosh further cited testimony by former Communications Ministry director-general Shlomo Filber, a state witness, who testified that he overheard a conversation in which Netanyahu asked his wife whether she was still in contact with Iris Elovich and allegedly instructed her to cut off contact and delete messages.

Judge Moshe Bar-Am intervened, questioning the necessity of further narrowing in on granular details of the text exchanges and the assumptions regarding what the prime minister knew. The case is being heard by a three-judge panel headed by Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman, alongside Bar-Am and Judge Oded Shaham.

13.01.2026 - 18:53 [ Associated Press ]

Torture still scars Iranians 40 years after revolution

(February 6, 2019)

Torture became widespread, as shown in the museum’s exhibits. Interrogators all wear ties, a nod to their Western connections. Portraits of the shah, Queen Farah and his son, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who now lives in exile in the U.S., hang above one torture scene

(…)

Sheikhi walked with Associated Press journalists through the prison that once held him, built in the 1930s by German engineers. Black-and-white photographs of its 8,500 prisoners from over the years line the walls. They include current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the late President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Sheikhi, then 19, spent about three months in the prison and 11 months in another after being detained for distributing anti-shah statements from Khomeini, then in exile.

…

12.01.2026 - 17:35 [ NDR ]

Im inneren Kreis

(April 1, 2024)

Und auch im idyllischen Heidelberg hat sich der Polizist Simon B. 2010 eigens an der Universität immatrikuliert, um linke Studierende auszuspähen, die nicht im Traum damit gerechnet hätten, einmal ins Fadenkreuz staatlicher Überwachung zu geraten.

Eindrucksvoll erzählen die Protagonisten aus ganz unterschiedlichen Perspektiven ihre Geschichten.

10.01.2026 - 14:09 [ CNN / Youtube ]

Witness to ICE agents: ‘You shot her in the f**king face’

(January 8, 2026)

Emily Heller, who lives on the street where an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in her car, shares video of the aftermath with CNN‘s Erin Burnett as DHS claims self-defense.

16.12.2025 - 05:29 [ International Business Times ]

Bondi Beach Survivor‘s Shocking Claim About Police Inaction During 20 Minutes of Terror

(December 14, 2025)

The account, provided by eyewitness Shmulik Scuri, has intensified scrutiny of the New South Wales Police tactics during the attack, which has been declared a terrorist incident that left at least 12 people dead and 29 injured.

(…)

Mr Scuri, who was with his family, told reporters that for ‘20 minutes‘ shooters continued to fire while approximately four police officers stood by without returning fire. He said one suspect reloaded openly, uninterrupted, and that officers did not engage.

‚Nobody gave fire back. Nothing. Like they froze,‘ he said. ‚I don‘t understand why.‘

10.12.2025 - 05:04 [ United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) ]

Born vulnerable: the toll of maternal malnutrition and stress in Gaza

This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF Communication Manager Tess Ingram – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today‘s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva

(,,,)

„I have spent many months in Gaza over the past two years, and I see and hear the generational impacts of the conflict on mothers and their infants almost every day; in hospitals, nutrition clinics and family tents. It is less visible than blood or injury, but it is ubiquitous. It is everywhere.

„I have lost count of the number of parents like Fatma who have sobbed while telling me what happened to them, wrecked by how powerless they are to protect their children in the face of indiscriminate destruction and deprivation. Generations of families, including those born into the ceasefire, have been forever altered by what was inflicted upon them.

10.12.2025 - 04:50 [ United Nations ]

Gaza’s babies ‘scarred by war before first breath’ by malnutrition

Mothers who’ve been left starving in Gaza are now giving birth to underweight or premature babies who die in intensive care units or struggle to survive as they endure acute malnutrition, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.

Speaking from the shattered enclave, UNICEF Communication Manager Tess Ingram said that at least 165 children are reported to have died “painful, preventable deaths” related to malnutrition during the war between Hamas fighters and Israel.

A lesser-known scourge is acute hunger among pregnant and breastfeeding women and “the devastating domino effect” of this lack of a healthy diet on thousands of newborns.

“In Gaza’s hospitals I have met several newborns who weighed less than one kilogramme, their tiny chests heaving with the effort of staying alive,” Ms. Ingram said.

10.12.2025 - 04:47 [ Reuters ]

‚Shockingly high‘ number of Gaza children still acutely malnourished after truce, UN says

Thousands of children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in Gaza since an October ceasefire that was supposed to enable a major increase in humanitarian aid, the U.N. children‘s agency said on Tuesday.

UNICEF, the biggest provider of malnutrition treatment in Gaza, said that 9,300 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition in October, when the first phase of an agreement to end the two-year Israel-Hamas war came into effect.

03.11.2025 - 22:13 [ Al Jazeera ]

New light shed on el-Fasher horror as survivors arrive in Sudan’s Tawila

The memories of what happened in el-Fasher were difficult for her to put into words.

“The dead bodies were everywhere – in the streets, inside houses and at the gates of many houses,” Yahya told Al Jazeera. “Wherever you are in el-Fasher, you will see dead bodies scattered.”

Her testimony is one of several accounts from people who fled North Darfur’s capital after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting Sudan’s regular army, captured the city on October 26.

31.10.2025 - 23:25 [ United Nations ]

Tens of thousands fleeing on foot amid atrocities in Sudan’s El Fasher

Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN human rights office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the UN human rights office (OHCHR).

Speaking from Nairobi to journalists in Geneva, Mr. Magango said numerous testimonies had been received from residents who had fled in terror as the city fell, then “survived the threatening journey to Tawila, approximately 70 kilometres away” – a journey that takes three to four days on foot.

09.10.2025 - 23:51 [ Middle East Eye ]

Polish activists return from Gaza flotilla, denounce Israeli ‘brutality’ and Warsaw’s inaction

The delegation, arriving on a flight from Athens, included ruling Civic Platform (PO) lawmaker Franciszek Sterczewski, activists Omar Faris and Nina Ptak, and journalist Ewa Jasiewicz. Faris, Ptak, and Sterczewski were deported to Greece on Monday, while Jasiewicz had left Israel earlier.

Sterczewski sharply criticized both Israel and Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski.(…)

“They treated us absolutely brutally. For several hours, I’m 73 years old, they tied my hands behind my back and put me on rocks,” Faris said.

He added that during interrogation in an Israeli prison, the activists were questioned about possible links to Hamas. “Our problem is the occupation, which began 42 years before the founding of Hamas,” he said. “You won’t be able to kill us. And we don’t want to kill you either. We want a solution like in South Africa — a democratic state for all, regardless of religion.”

08.10.2025 - 18:31 [ DawnNews English / Youtube ]

Greta Thunberg Alleges Torture During Detention in Israeli Prison After Gaza Flotilla Arrest

Thunberg told a news conference in Stockholm that she and others were „kidnapped and tortured“ by the Israeli military.

She declined to elaborate, adding when pressed that she didn‘t get clean water and that other detainees were deprived of critical medication.

Israel‘s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment but has repeatedly denied mistreating the detainees.

08.10.2025 - 17:20 [ Zeteo ]

EXCLUSIVE: Freed Flotilla Activist David Adler Details His ‘Violent Abduction’ by Israel

Watch the full conversation above or on YouTube to also hear David discuss his treatment as a Jewish activist receiving “special interrogation by Ben-Gvir” and the US’s lack of response to his illegal detention.

08.10.2025 - 17:15 [ David Adler / Jacobin ]

I Spent Five Days in Israel’s Desert Prison

People were taken individually out of their cells and regularly beaten, handcuffed, ankle-cuffed, and left in solitary confinement. This happened many times over many days. We were denied the most basic things, like critical access to insulin for diabetic detainees that were part of the flotilla. In short, we were treated as terrorists, just as national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had promised.

From the first moment that we stepped onto that tarmac after interception, we were violently forced onto our knees into positions of submission. The two Jews of the flotilla were taken by the rear and ripped from the group for a photo op with Ben-Gvir — staring at the flag of the State of Israel and taunted by his goons. Thus began a five-day nightmare of serial and systematic violation of our most basic rights. Reports varied from the different cellblocks. But one report that is consistent is that we were all denied food and water. At all times, we were denied access to medicine based on the whims of individual officers working shifts.

(…)

Of course, all of this pales in comparison to the treatment that Palestinians endure every single day. Eleven thousand of them are in indefinite detention at the moment, including in the same internment camp where we were held as terrorists by Israel.