‘We were treated like animals’

International activists who arrived in Istanbul after being deported from Israel following the military's interception of their Gaza-bound flotilla yesterday said they had been subjected to violence and "treated like animals".

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month seeking to ferry aid to war-battered Gaza but Israel blocked the boats, detaining more than 400 people whom it began deporting on Friday.

Of that number, 137 activists from 13 countries flew into Istanbul yesterday, among them 36 Turkish nationals.

"We were intercepted by a huge number of military vessels," Paolo Romano, a regional councillor from Lombardy in Italy, told AFP at Istanbul airport.

"Some boats were also hit by water cannon. All of the boats were taken by very heavily armed people and brought to shore," the 29-year-old said.

"They put us on our knees, facing down. And if we moved, they hit us. They were laughing at us, insulting us and hitting us," he said.

"They were using both psychological and physical violence."

Among those on board the flotilla, which counted some 45 vessels, were politicians and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

Romano said they tried to force them to admit they had entered Israel illegally.

"But we never entered Israel illegally. We were in international waters and it was our right to be there."

On landing, they were taken to a prison and held there without being allowed out and were not given bottled water, he said.

"They were opening the door during the night and shouting at us with guns to scare us," he said.

"We were treated like animals."