Updated ,first published
An Australian man detained while trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza will tell the Australian Federal Police he was digitally penetrated by Israeli forces and beaten for refusing to kiss the Israeli flag.
The AFP announced on Monday night it had begun making inquiries into allegations of rape, torture and brutalisation by 11 Australians detained by Israel while participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla, an attempt to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza’s coastline.
Ethan Floyd, who spent two days on an Israeli prison ship before being released onto the Greek island of Crete, said: “I was subjected to a full-body strip search and one of the soldiers inserted his fingers into my behind. It was not part of a cavity search; it was penetrative sexual assault in the view of others.
“Other members of the flotilla were penetrated with penises and the tips of guns.”
Floyd, 22, is secretary of the NSW Young Greens and ran on the party’s Senate ticket last year.
Following a meeting between Foreign Minister Penny Wong and four members of the flotilla in Canberra on Monday afternoon, Israel’s embassy in Canberra accused the activists of “running a PR anti-Israel campaign” and said it “categorically rejects all their false allegations”.
“Regarding their claims of physical and sexual assault, to date no credible evidence has been presented and no formal complaints have been submitted to the embassy,” the embassy said.
Floyd said: “The evidence will bear out that we were sexually assaulted, beaten and tortured.”
He said the hospital records in Greece and Turkey, where the activists were taken, will show they were brutalised and can present evidence of bruises, scratches and other injuries.
He said he saw Israeli troops shoot three flotilla participants with rubber bullets after navy commanders stormed their vessel near Greece on April 29, and that their wounds became infected with maggots.
“They demanded I kiss the Israeli flag and beat me when I refused,” he said. “I received a concussion after my head was smashed into a shipping container.”
He said he would fully co-operate with the AFP’s inquiry and argued Israel had predictably tried to dismiss the testimony of the activists as a political stunt.
“It’s in their interests to downplay this,” he said.
Floyd said the AFP investigation “could be a breakthrough but only if we refuse to let it become theatre. We want a transparent, accountable process.”
He added that he was outraged Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, has said flotilla members were treated with “great sensitivity”.
“I don’t want to see him called in for a rebuke, I want him kicked out of the country,” Floyd said.
Juliet Lamont, one of the flotilla activists, has alleged she was raped by one of the Israeli soldiers, beaten and cable-tied.
Fellow activist Neve O’Connor has alleged Israeli troops subjected her to multiple kicks and knees to the head as well as stomping on her fingers.
After meeting with Wong, Lamont said she “definitely believes we were kidnapped, that we were tortured and that we were imprisoned and that some of us were raped”.
An AFP spokeswoman said: “The AFP has begun inquiries into allegations made by a representative of the group. The AFP engages with a victim-centric, trauma-informed approach.”
Greens Senator David Shoebridge said: “We’ll be watching this inquiry closely including the timeframe, resourcing and the transparency.
“The AFP need to take this as seriously as it warrants.”
He called for the Albanese government to demand co-operation from Israel, including the provision of body-worn camera footage and closed circuit footage.
Australia’s investigation follows the announcement of separate official probes of the treatment of the flotilla by prosecutors in Italy and France.
Australian National University international law expert Don Rothwell said that given the alleged mistreatment happened outside Australia, any allegations would need to be treated as a war crime or crime against humanity in order for charges to be laid locally.
“On the basis of what we know, it would be very difficult to reach that threshold,” he said.
Australia would likely face formidable challenges in extraditing any Israeli troops to face trial in Australia, he added.
The government likely hopes that the AFP’s inquiry will increase pressure on Israel to conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the activists’ claims, he said.
University of Sydney international law professor Ben Saul, a United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, said the war crimes of rape, sexual violence and outrages against dignity could apply but the prospect of a conviction in Australia appeared “remote”.
If you or anyone you know needs support, call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.From our partners
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