"Two activists on board the Hanzala ship, which was intercepted and headed to Gaza, will be deported from Israel today," the private Israeli Channel 12 reported, without providing further details.
Moroccan journalist Mohamed El Bakkali, who works for the Qatari Al Jazeera channel, was also deported after being detained for several days under difficult conditions. He was given a popular welcome at Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca, amid widespread solidarity from Moroccan activists and media professionals.
Al-Baqali was received by his family and several media professionals and activists at Mohammed V Airport. Israel deported him on Monday evening. The International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza stated in a post on the X platform that some activists were subjected to physical violence during their arrest. Female activists spoke of the lack of ventilation and poor detention conditions, particularly regarding basic hygiene supplies.
In this context, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that American activist Christian Smalls was subjected to severe physical assault by Israeli occupation forces during his detention, with seven soldiers attempting to strangle and kick him, causing visible bruises on his body. It also stated that six police officers surrounded Smalls during his meeting with his lawyer, in an attempt to strangle him.
On Monday evening, the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza said in a statement on the X platform that a number of activists had refused to sign the forced deportation papers and continued their open-ended hunger strike in protest against their detention conditions and the treatment they had received.
She added that three of the activists agreed to deportation: Antonio Mazzeo (Italy), Gabriele Cathala (France), and Jacob Berger (United States). Houida Arraf and Bob Soubiri, who hold American and Israeli citizenship, were also interrogated before their release.
The committee confirmed that a number of activists were subjected to physical violence while in detention, noting that some female activists complained of poor ventilation and sanitary conditions inside detention centers, as well as attempts to prevent them from communicating with lawyers.
On Saturday, Israeli naval forces stormed the Hanthala ship, carrying international activists, as it was heading to the Gaza Strip in an attempt to break the blockade imposed on the Palestinian enclave. The ship was fully seized and taken to the port of Ashdod.
The Hanthala ship reached 70 miles from Gaza, exceeding the distances traveled by previous ships, such as the Mavi Marmara, which reached 72 miles before being intercepted by Israel in 2010, the Madeleine, which reached 110 miles, and the Damir, which reached 1,050 miles, according to the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza.
On July 13, the ship set sail from the Italian port of Syracuse, before docking at Gallipoli on July 15, where it overcame some technical issues and resumed its journey to Gaza on July 20.
This is not the first incident of its kind. On June 9, the Israeli military seized the Mavi Marmara, a ship part of the Freedom Flotilla, in international waters while en route to the besieged Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid. The ship was arrested along with 12 international activists on board, and Israel later deported the activists on condition that they pledge not to return.
The Gaza Strip is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in its history, with a severe famine intertwined with a war of extermination waged by Israel since October 7, 2023.
The genocide, with American support, left more than 205,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many.
