Our boat, the Conscience, was attacked in international waters around 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, said Schnall, who appeared in the video with a black eye and bruises. She added: The brutality began immediately. We were taken through multiple levels of administration and the first of many strip searches. At least one woman has reported being physically penetrated by guards who laughed at her pain.
I was beaten from the moment we entered the port until the very end, said Saverio Tommasi, an Italian journalist. Blows to my back, blows to my head and they [the Israeli soldiers] laughed, laughed at all of it. Anyone who failed to keep their eyes down was punished with a hit to the head. Israeli forces intercepted all the boats of the Global Sumud flotilla (GSF), carrying more than 400 people including parliamentarians and the environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg, last week.