Seven Australians have been deported to Jordan after being detained by Israel, following their arrest as part of a flotilla that was attempting to carry aid into Gaza.
The seven Australians had been arrested and detained in Israel after the Israeli military intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla on Thursday last week.
On Tuesday evening AEST, Jordan's foreign ministry said in a statement posted on X that 131 "nationals of several brotherly and friendly countries" who were on board the flotilla had arrived in Jordan.
Jordan's foreign ministry spokesperson Fouad Al-Majali said that the group included nationals from Australia, along with many other countries.
The statement said that coordination "was made with the embassies of brotherly and friendly countries to organise and facilitate the departure of their nationals".
SBS News understands the deportation followed representations by the Australian government to Israeli authorities, and that it raised the welfare and treatment of the detained Australians with Israel.
A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday night that the Department of Foreign Affairs was continuing to provide consular assistance to the Australians.
"We are pleased they have been released from detention," the spokesperson told SBS News in a statement.
Israel said it expelled 171 activists on Monday, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, mostly to Greece.
The 131 people reportedly deported by Jordan bring the collective total so far to 472, out of 479 people Israel detained when it captured the flotilla trying to break its naval blockade of Gaza.
News that the Australians had been deported to Jordan came the same day the group made fresh allegations of violence and mistreatment at the hands of Israeli officers.
Global Movement to Gaza, part of the flotilla group, said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that Israeli officers had physically assaulted two male members of the Australian contingent.
One of those men was Surya McEwen, who reported this week that his shoulder had been dislocated as a result of excessive force by Israeli officers, and that his head had been bashed into a concrete surface at a port.
McEwen also said he had been subject to sleep deprivation techniques, physical intimidation, and degrading treatment while detained in Israel's Ketziot prison.
Global Movement to Gaza also said that two women in the Global Sumud Flotilla contingent said they had been "deprived of essential medication, while another documented being shoved and intimidated".
The group said all seven detainees claimed they were denied legal representation during their initial processing, and McEwen said he had been denied independent access to Australian officials or a lawyer.
It said Jen Robinson, the human rights barrister representing the detained Australians, had confirmed that the group's legal team met with DFAT on Monday to express family members' concerns and advocate for the federal government to intervene.
Swiss and Spanish activists have also said they were subjected to inhumane conditions during their detention by Israeli forces.
Israel's foreign ministry issued a statement, accompanied by photos of Thunberg at the airport, saying all participants' legal rights had been upheld and the only violence involved an activist who bit a female medic at Israel's Ketziot prison.
Deported activists allege mistreatment
Among nine members of the flotilla who arrived home in Switzerland, some alleged sleep deprivation, lack of water and food, as well as some being beaten, kicked and locked in a cage, the group representing them said in a statement.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson rejected the allegations.
Spanish activists also alleged mistreatment on their arrival in Spain after being deported.
"They beat us, dragged us along the ground, blindfolded us, tied our hands and feet, put us in cages and insulted us," lawyer Rafael Borrego told reporters at Madrid's airport.
Swedish activists said last week that Thunberg was shoved and forced to wear an Israeli flag during her detention, while others said they had clean food and water withheld and had their medication and belongings confiscated.
Israel's foreign ministry issued a statement, accompanied by photos of Greta Thunberg at Athens airport, saying all participants' legal rights had been upheld. Source: AAP / Petros Giannakouris/AP
"What happened here was that Israel, while continuing to worsen and escalate their genocide and mass destruction with genocidal intent, attempting to erase an entire population, an entire nation in front of our very eyes, they once again violated international law by preventing humanitarian aid from getting into Gaza while people are being starved," she said.
Israel says claims 'complete lies'
Israel's foreign ministry has described widespread reports of detainees being mistreated after the flotilla was intercepted as "complete lies".
A spokesperson told Reuters news agency over the weekend that all detainees were given access to water, food and bathrooms, adding: "They were not denied access to legal counsel and all their legal rights were fully upheld."
Over the weekend, the Swiss embassy in Tel Aviv visited 10 Swiss nationals and said all were "in relatively good health, given the circumstances".
Former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau, who was also on the flotilla, said there had been "mistreatment, but that was nothing compared to what the Palestinian people suffer every day".
Thunberg arrived in Greece to a cheering pro-Palestinian crowd after she and hundreds of other activists captured by Israel on the high seas were deported following an attempt to bring aid to Gaza.
"Let me be very clear. There is a genocide going on," Thunberg told the crowd at the Athens airport, referring to Israeli military action in Gaza.
"Our international systems are betraying Palestinians. They are not even able to prevent the worst war crimes from happening," Thunberg said. "What we aimed to do with the Global Sumud Flotilla was to step up when our governments failed to do their legal obligation."
The activists attempted to reach Gaza in scores of vessels to bring aid supplies and draw attention to the plight of Gaza, where most of the 2.2 million residents have been driven from their homes, and the United Nations says hunger is rampant.
Israel, which rejects accusations it is carrying out genocide in Gaza and says reports of hunger there are exaggerated, has dismissed the flotilla as a publicity stunt benefiting Hamas. It had previously detained Thunberg at sea during a similar attempt to breach the blockade in June.
— With additional reporting from Reuters
