Australian photographer Kate Geraghty was tasered on the arm by Israeli soldiers who stormed a flotilla of boats heading to Gaza, a fellow passenger claims.
The Fairfax photographer along with senior Fairfax journalist Paul McGeough have been detained by Israeli authorities since Monday afternoon (AEST) when the naval commandos boarded the ships and took control.
At least nine people were killed during the takeover, with others injured and more than 100 detained.
One of the first to be released on Wednesday (AEST) was organiser with the Free Gaza Flotilla, Huwaida Arraf, a dual US/Israeli citizen who said she was aboard the US-flagged vessel Challenger 1 along with The Sydney Morning Herald's Geraghty and McGeough.
"They were on the Challenger 1 with me and I know that Kate was tasered and was not feeling well," Ms Arraf told ABC Radio 702 on Wednesday afternoon.
"She was trying to send out some pictures before our boat was taken over but all of our satellite capabilities were jammed and she was not able to do that."
Once the commandos boarded the vessel, one of their first acts was to seize all communication equipment, cameras and memory cards, Ms Arraf said.
"I did not see her being tasered but when we were all gathered into a room when they had subdued all of us and taken over the boat, she did show us her wound on her arm and she said that she wasn't feeling well and that she was hurt, but I didn't see the actual tasering and how she reacted to it," Ms Arraf said.
Geraghty's mother, Pat Geraghty, told ABC Radio in Adelaide on Wednesday she had spoken to her daughter overnight and that she was fine.
"She said `Mum I'm fine, I am being held in this ... detention centre and waiting to see officials from the consulate'," Ms Geraghty said.
Fairfax is yet to confirm that Geraghty was tasered during the ambush, but a spokesman for the media group said a statement is expected to be issued later on Wednesday.
