On May 18, 2026, Israeli authorities arrested Thoudy Badai Rifan Billah, an Indonesian photojournalist with Republika, while aboard the Ozgurluk, a vessel in the Global Sumud Flotilla, an aid convoy attempting to break the blockade on Gaza.
He was among the flotilla participants deported to Istanbul, Turkey, on May 21, after three days and three nights in Israeli custody. He returned to Indonesia on May 24.
Badai told Kompas that he joined Ozgurluk as a journalist, to document and photograph events. When Israeli forces intercepted the vessel, he tried to ensure everything was recorded, but said communications were jammed and the material could not be transmitted.
In a May 28 online discussion organized by Indonesian NGO Adara Relief International, Badai said that all detainees received identical treatment regardless of nationality, pushing back on suggestion that Indonesian nationals fared better in custody. "The Zionists treated Indonesians badly, one of our colleagues even ended up in hospital after returning to Indonesia," he said. He also said to Antara News that the violence and cruelty carried out by Israeli forces against him and his fellow detainees could not compare “to what thousands of Palestinian prisoners endure.”
Fellow journalist Andre Prasetyo Nugroho, took to social media to describe the moment he witnessed Badai collapse and appear to lose consciousness aboard the Israeli military ship.
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.