Spanish police clash with Gaza flotilla returnees
Spanish police used considerable force on Saturday against six returnees from the Gaza humanitarian flotilla released by Israel and their supporters at Bilbao airport.
Video footage broadcast by Spanish media showed police repeatedly hitting people already lying on the ground with batons, dragging them along the ground and tying their arms behind their backs with handcuffs.
Spanish media said they were surprised by the images because there is great sympathy among the public for the flotilla and the Palestinians.
At first, it was unclear what exactly had sparked the violence.
The Basque police Ertzaintza immediately announced the opening of an investigation to determine whether the actions of the police officers complied with the applicable rules.
Two returnees and two sympathizers were arrested on suspicion of having resisted the police, the press release said. Three of them were released shortly after, according to police.
Israel, which participants in the humanitarian flotilla have accused of violent attacks, has demanded explanations from the Spanish government on the harsh police operation carried out against the activists.
Several members of the humanitarian flotilla, including Germans, reported mistreatment, beatings, assaults and torture by Israeli security forces after being arrested by the Israeli military in international waters.
The German Foreign Ministry confirmed on Friday that German activists had been injured. A spokesperson reiterated the German government’s criticism of the “humiliating treatment” of those detained in Israel. Israel has rejected these allegations.
Around 430 activists with more than 50 boats wanted to break the maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip to provide aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, they said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry called it a “public relations coup in the service of Hamas”, the Palestinian Islamic militia in Gaza which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages.
Israel then launched heavy reprisals which, according to Hamas-controlled health authorities, killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip.
