On May 18, 2026, Israeli authorities arrested Simona Losito, Italian freelance investigative journalist with InsideOver while aboard the Alcyone, a vessel in the Global Sumud Flotilla, an aid convoy attempting to break the blockade on Gaza.
She was among the flotilla participants deported to Istanbul, Turkey, on May 21, after three days and three nights in Israeli custody.
Losito told ANSA and TGR Puglia that Israeli forces boarded the ships, searched and bound the activists, and transferred them to what she called a "prison ship," where they were forcibly stripped of their belongings and clothing, leaving them without adequate protection from the cold during the night. She said detainees were not given food or water, were held with their hands and feet securely bound, and their heads pressed to the ground to prevent them from seeing the other detainees.
Losito reported that Israeli forces fired live rounds, used stun grenades, poured water on the ground to prevent detainees from staying warm, and used tasers on wet detainees. She also said that Israeli soldiers held off-safe guns to detainees' heads and that women underwent purported medical checks where they were photographed with their t-shirts above their heads and paraded in front of other soldiers. She alleged sexual violence against detainees.
Adalah, a Palestinian-run legal rights group representing some of the detainees, told CPJ that all detainees had faced alleged abuses, including restricted access to lawyers, humiliation, and violence.
In a video published on X, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir can be heard yelling, “welcome to Israel, we are the landlords,” while waving a large Israeli flag over dozens of detainees kneeling side by side on the floor, their hands tied behind their backs and their heads lowered to the ground. Another video shows security forces violently throwing a handcuffed activist to the ground after the activist shouts “free Palestine” at Ben Gvir. The minister also said the detainees should be imprisoned for “a long, long time.”
In response to an email requesting comment, the Israel Defense Forces told CPJ it “rejects allegations of abuse by IDF soldiers during the operations,” adding that any “concrete complaints submitted to the IDF on the matter will be examined thoroughly.” CPJ’s email requesting comment from the office of Ben-Gvir did not receive a response.