'We were treated like animals', deported Gaza flotilla activists say

International activists who arrived in Istanbul after being deported from Israel following the military's interception of their Gaza-bound flotilla said Saturday they had been subjected to violence and "treated like animals". 

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month seeking to ferry aid to war-battered Gaza but Israel blocked the boats, detaining more than 400 people whom it began deporting on Friday.

Of that number, 137 activists from 13 countries flew into Istanbul on Saturday, among them 36 Turkish nationals.  

"They put us on our knees, facing down. And if we moved, they hit us. They were laughing at us, insulting us and hitting us," Paolo Romano, a regional councillor from Lombardy in Italy said. 

 “They dragged little Greta (Thunberg) by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,” Anadolu Agency reported Turkish activist and Sumud Flotilla participant Ersin Celik saying.