Irish activists who were participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla and detained by Israeli authorities earlier this week have spoken out after being deported to Turkey.
“We were sailing to open a humanitarian corridor to Gaza with food, fuel, and medical aid," one of the activists, Margaret Connolly, told the Turkish state-run publication Anadolu Agency on Thursday.
"We were peaceful. Absolutely no arms on board. All I had was a jumper and a sweater.”
Connolly is the sister of President of Ireland Catherine Connolly.
The 67-year-old described her three days in captivity as “barbaric, cruel, ugly, and violent."
"I never saw such ugly, ugly control by an army," she said. “The conditions were horrific. We’ve had 35 fractures, five head injuries, up to 16 sexual abuses, ear injuries, and eye injuries. Absolute numerous taser burns to the back and genitals."
Connolly said she was not given "a single painkiller" for her injuries, adding that medications for diabetes, blood pressure, and asthma had been confiscated.
She went on to say: "Fifty of us sleeping beside each other in a filthy container with no food for three days and not enough water. There was nothing to clean wounds in."
Speaking with reporters upon arriving in Istanbul on Thursday, Connolly said: "This barbaric, cruel regime must be disbanded.
"[The] United States and Germany are funding it 100%, with the backing of England, France, and all the Western governments, who are a white menace, spreading pestilence and violence wherever they go.
"They have a war machine to make billions, and I, for one, as a mother and a doctor and an Irish citizen, saying 'up yours.'
"We must change the world and make it safe and kind and not have people treating you like dogs and keeping you in the ground and stealing a country that not theirs. It is not yours, you must give some of it back and share with the Palestinians. You have no right to do what you do."
🗣 ‘This barbaric, cruel regime must be disbanded’
Margaret Connolly, sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly, denounces Israel after arriving in Istanbul following her detention ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/XciVkokGej
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) May 21, 2026
Another Irish activist, Mikey Cullen, separately said on Thursday after arriving in Istanbul: "From when we were intercepted, we were met with such levels of violence; our boats were shot at.
"And from the moment that we entered the prison ship to touching down in Occupied Palestine, we were violated in all different manner of ways.
"And the fact that Israel would do that to us, with the world on us, I can only imagine what they do to Palestinian prisoners."
Cullen went on to say: "We can defeat them, and they know that, and that's why they had to suppress early and they why they inflicted such violence on us."
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Irish activist Caitríona Graham told RTÉ News: "When we started to hear what was happening on other boats, and indeed on the second prison boat, it seems like most people endured some knind of vicious violence.
"We've had reports of at least 15 sexual assaults, more than 30 broken bones, including clavicles, ribs, and a few concussions as well."
In a widely condemned video, Graham can be seen being pushed down by a soldier after chanting "Free, Free Palestine" while in detention.
The video was amplified by Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who captioned the clip "Welcome to Israel."
Utterly appalling and unacceptable behaviour by Minister Gvir and the Israeli government. Our Embassy has formally raised this matter with the Israeli authorities and have demanded proper and humane treatment of Irish citizen. These actions cannot be allowed to continue. https://t.co/2pfurpLjXd
— Helen McEntee TD (@HMcEntee) May 20, 2026
Connolly, Cullen, and Graham were three of more than a dozen Irish activists who were participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was illegally intercepted by Israeli authorities in international waters earlier this week as it attempted to make its way to Gaza to deliver aid.
The nearly 500 Flotilla participants who were detained by Israeli authorities were ultimately deported from Israel to Turkey on Thursday. Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Helen McEntee confirmed on Friday morning that the Irish Flotilla citizens were recovering in Istanbul. The Irish activists are expected to return to Ireland on Saturday.
Meanwhile, speaking in Brussels on Friday, McEntee said Ireland joined nine other EU member states in calling on the European Commission to bring forward proposals to ban trade with illegal settlements.
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