Gaza, June 06: An Irish-American activist, who was among hundreds of abducted aid activists on the Freedom Flotilla seeking to break the siege of the Gaza Strip, was brutally beaten by Israeli security forces.
Ken O’Keefe said on Saturday that he was brutally attacked by Israeli soldiers at the airport before being sent off to Turkey.
O’Keefe underwent physical violence at least three times after being escorted off the ship. He was hospitalized after allegedly suffering beatings.
The Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which was stormed by Israeli troops on May 31, was attempting to deliver 10,000 tons of humanitarian supplies to the besieged people of Gaza.
The brutal assault carried out by Israeli commandos left at least nine activists dead and more than 40 others injured.
The Irish-American activist renounced his American citizenship in 2001 in protest at what he described as the US funding of war, death and murder.
——Agencies