Moroccan journalist Younes Ait Yassine, one of the participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the blockade on Gaza, said that activists detained by Israel were subjected to "verbal, physical, and psychological abuse."
His remarks came on Sunday as three Moroccan activists returned to the country via Istanbul after being released by Israeli authorities.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail late August seeking to provide aid to Gaza, but Israel attacked the boats earlier this week, detaining more than 400 people, whom it began deporting on Friday.
On Saturday afternoon, 137 activists of various nationalities, including four Moroccans, arrived at the Istanbul Airport on a special Turkish Airlines flight. Two Moroccan activists, meanwhile, still remain in detention, according to rights groups.
"This was an unprecedented experience — we suffered greatly after being kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupation," Ait Yassine told reporters.
"During our detention, we were subjected to verbal, physical, and psychological assaults, enduring violations and humiliation of our human dignity."
'Rejection of normalisation'
Dozens of Moroccans gathered at the Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans against Israeli genocidal war to show solidarity with the returning activists.
"I'll take off my journalist's hat and speak as a Moroccan — it is time for the public's rejection of normalisation to be reflected in government policy. There can be no justification for continuing ties with a rogue state that practices piracy and kidnaps hundreds of activists on the high seas," Ait Yassine added. Morocco signed the Abraham Accords and normalised relations with Israel in 2020.
The Israeli assault on the flotilla has triggered public protests and official condemnations in several countries, alongside growing calls for the release of detained activists and for Tel Aviv to be held accountable for its violations of international law.
Israel has maintained the blockade of Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for almost 18 years.
Israel has killed over 67,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, so far in its carnage in besieged Gaza.
It has reduced most of the blockaded enclave to ruins, and practically displaced all of its population.
