Four Dutch activists arrived in Amsterdam via Spain after days of detention in occupied territories, aided by the Dutch Embassy in Madrid.
“We were kidnapped by Israeli soldiers while sailing in international waters,” said Roos Ykema, one of the activists, speaking at Schiphol Airport.
“They stormed our boats as we tried to break the illegal blockade and reach Gaza. They forced us to sit under the burning sun without food, water, or medical aid. Some were beaten. We were later taken to Israeli prisons,” she said.
Ykema described their ordeal as deliberate humiliation.
“They left us without the basic necessities of life. Those needing medication were ignored. Despite everything, we will not stop. More ships will sail, and Palestine will be free,” she said.
Another participant, Mohamed Abo Naser, detailed further mistreatment.
“The peaceful participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla were treated in a very, very bad way,” he said.
“For two days, we were denied water. Food was irregular and insufficient. We were locked inside without sunlight, without access to lawyers or our embassies.”
He said detainees requiring urgent medical help—including insulin—were denied access, leaving one person close to death.
Abo Naser added that Israeli guards singled out non-white, Muslim, and Arab activists for harsher treatment.
“People of color and those with Arab or Palestinian backgrounds were taken from their cells without explanation. Some were handcuffed, blindfolded, and left unable to breathe,” he said.
He described being transported in suffocating buses with extreme temperatures and restricted airflow.
“At moments, we thought we would die because we couldn’t breathe,” he said.
Despite the ordeal, Abo Naser said their resolve had only hardened.
“To the prison guards, the Israeli government, and Minister Ben-Gvir who came to gloat—we have one message,” he said.
“We are coming back with more ships, with more people, and we will not stop until the siege on Gaza is broken.”