On April 15, 2026, the Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Barcelona bound for occupied, starving, and devastated Gaza, carrying medical supplies and food on board to open a humanitarian sea corridor. I had the privilege of serving as captain on one of the boats, along with nine other people.
We were one of more than 50 boats en route to Greece when, on April 29, we were stopped by Israeli military boats west of Crete after being fired upon with rubber bullets. The crew was kidnapped, taken to an Israeli prison ship, mistreated, and handed over to the Greek coast guard two days later south of Crete.
On May 14, 54 boats set sail from Marmaris, Turkey, bound for Gaza. I was the captain of a small sailing vessel. On May 18, this boat was also stopped with rubber bullets, and the seven-member crew was kidnapped. First, we were taken to a prison ship for two days, then transported via the port of Ashdod to Ktziot Prison in the Negev Desert, where we were held for one day. As a medical professional, I helped treat the numerous injured people both on the prison ship and in the prison.
Significant portions of this report are also documented in the records of the Turkish police in Marmaris and Istanbul, as well as the Federal Police in Hanover. This report describes the systematic torture of nonviolent participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla to highlight the far worse violence that the over 9,000 political prisoners in Israeli prisons have had to endure every day for decades. These people are often imprisoned without a court verdict or charges.
