Six activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla, including four Belgians, were welcomed as heroes at Brussels Airport on Tuesday after being detained by Israeli authorities.
Their plane landed at 10:30am, and by 11am, they appeared in the arrivals hall dressed in grey uniforms from Israeli prisons, carrying their belongings in plastic bags. Dozens of supporters were present to greet them.
The activists had been arrested after the Israeli navy intercepted several ships from the flotilla in international waters during the night of 1 to 2 October. “They used a water cannon on us for no reason before abducting us,” said Alexis Deswaef, a human rights lawyer.
Upon arrival at Ketziot Prison, the group endured a humiliating visit by far-right Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. "To the journalists accompanying him, he kept calling us ‘baby killers’," said Saddie Choua, a visual arts lecturer at Sint Lucas Antwerp and RITCS.
Choua was one of the first to be brought before a judge without any prior access to legal counsel. "That was after about 36 hours, with no food or drink. There was water in the cell, but it was brown. After a few days, we got cleaner water."
Like other activists deported to Greece on Monday, the Belgians reported mistreatment by guards. Choua described being thrown to the ground and into her cell and said prisoners often had to make noise to get any response from the guards.
The six former detainees from Ketziot prison, visibly moved but combative, made their appearance to loud applause and chants from the crowd, ranging from "We are all children of Gaza’ to ‘Stop, stop genocide".
Return of the Belgians who were part of the Global Summud flotilla to Gaza, Tuesday 07 October 2025, at Brussels airport in Zaventem. Credit: Belga / Eric Lalmand
Like Greta Thunberg and French MEP Rima Hassan before them, the Belgians testified to the harshness of their stay in the gigantic Israeli prison and the violence they suffered.
Even before he could hug his children and wife, Alexis Deswaef brandished a piece of white plastic in the arrivals hall: a cable tie. "For the last four days, we were handcuffed most of the time," he shouted through a megaphone.
"We saved one handcuff as evidence," added the lawyer, who is also vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
Around 160 of these activists detained after their interception at sea were deported by Israel on Monday to Greece, including the four Belgians, the Luxembourger and the Irishwoman who arrived in Zaventem on Tuesday.
