October 8, 2025
ISLAMABAD – Former JI senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan was released after being detained by Israel; reports of activists being beaten, deprived of food and medicine and put in stress positions.
“This is not just a sea journey, it’s not an adventure, but rather it is a task that is extremely dangerous,” said former Jamaat-i-Islami senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan in an interview with Dawn.com just before he embarked on the Global Sumud Flotilla mission to Gaza.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), with around 500 participants from over 44 countries, including Pakistan, attempted to break Israel’s siege on Gaza and distribute humanitarian aid to the malnourished and injured civilians suffering from two years of genocide in the enclave at the hands of Israel.
Former senator Khan’s words rang true from the very beginning of the mission, when two GSF aid boats were struck by incendiary devices in Tunisian waters. The ‘Family’ and ‘Alma’ boats, which held the steering committee of the aid convoy, were attacked on September 8 and 9.
The aid boats were attacked once again on September 23 near Crete; this time, there was international condemnation, with Italy, Spain and Turkiye dispatching warships to aid the boats. The attack damaged the ‘Family’ boat, and some participants had to leave the mission as they could not be accommodated on the other boats.
It is important to note that two days before the third attack, Israel’s official social media accounts had stamped the Hamas label on the aid boats. Tel Aviv had also demanded that the convoy unload its aid at the Ashkelon Marina port, while a post by the Israeli foreign ministry — in a taunting tone — asked if the mission was about “aid or provocation”.
Italy also urged the flotilla to drop its aid off at Cyprus, which would then be handed to the Catholic Church’s Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which would transport it to Gaza.
Reacting to their country’s recommendation, Italian volunteers on the GSF categorically rejected the notion of dropping aid in Cyprus. In a statement, they said that their mission stays “true to its original goal of breaking [Israel’s] illegal siege and delivering humanitarian aid to the besieged population of Gaza”.
It all culminated on October 1, when the boats were about 100 nautical miles from Gaza. Israeli navy intercepted and stormed the vessels, pointing guns and smashing cameras capturing the raid on a livestream.
“Hands up, every last one of you”, and “phones in the water” were some of the orders shouted at the volunteers by Israeli force members. The participants were smeared as “terrorists” by a state which has terrorised not only the people of Gaza, but civilians in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran and Qatar.
Journalists, parliamentarians, human rights activists, doctors and other unarmed civilians made up the volunteers on the convoy. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson Nkosi Zwelivelile and French Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan were some of the more notable figures who took part in the humanitarian effort to reach Gaza.
Before Israeli forces intercepted the boats, the military’s drones were hovering over the aid vessels, and navy ships were conducting intimidating manoeuvres near the aid ships. The volunteers were subjected to water cannons, communication blackouts and threats over the radio in the late hours of Wednesday.
“You are instructed to change your course; any further attempts to sail towards Gaza endanger your safety and place you in an active warzone. If you proceed on your route, we will stop your boat and act to confiscate it through legal proceedings in court,” commanded an Israeli armed forces member with a prominent American accent, addressing Thiago Avila — an organiser on the flotilla — just moments before his vessel was intercepted.
The participants were in international waters when Israel took them captive. Photographs and videos emerged moments after the initial interception of about 13 of the boats, showing Greta Thunberg captured and sitting next to an Israeli soldier. The soldier very performatively gave Thunberg water and a flimsy coat.
Over the following days, all of the 42 aid boats were intercepted. However, one boat, the Mikeno, managed to come very close to Gaza and was about 9.3 miles away from the besieged enclave when Israeli forces intercepted it.
According to a statement issued by the GSF, the volunteers were taken to Ashdod Port, where they were “initially processed without legal counsel”. The statement also described the mistreatment suffered by the participants who were “zip-tied and forced to kneel for hours”.
The coalition said that the volunteers were shifted to Ktzi’ot Prison in the Negev desert, “where tribunal hearings began without notifying or allowing their lawyers to attend”.
Footage also surfaced of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir pointing at the captured flotilla participants as they sat on the floor with their passports in front of them. Ben-Gvir accused the volunteers —who carried baby formula for the malnourished infants of Gaza— of terrorism.
“They did not come for help; they came for Gaza, for the terrorists. These are terrorists.”
The minister also stormed one of the seized boats and claimed not to have found any aid.
On October 5, Lebanese online magazine The Cradle published a post on X quoting Ben-Gvir as saying that he was “proud” of the maltreatment of the flotilla activists.
“I am proud that the flotilla activists are being treated as terrorists. This is my policy,“ the far-right minister was quoted as saying. “I am proud of the prison staff acting in accordance with the policy set by Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi and myself. I was on their ships; I saw neither aid nor humanity.”
Ben-Gvir added that he visited Ktzi’ot Prison and was “proud” of how the flotilla activists were treated as “supporters of terrorism”.
“Anyone who supports terrorism is a terrorist and deserves the same conditions applied to terrorists.”
Protests erupted worldwide with demonstrators demanding their governments take action to ensure the safe return of their captured civilians.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla in a post on X.
“We hope and pray for the safety of all those who have been illegally apprehended by Israeli forces and call for their immediate release. Their crime was to carry aid for the hapless Palestinian people,” he wrote.
In another post, the premier lauded the efforts of Pakistani volunteers onboard the flotilla, including ex-senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan.
PM Shehbaz had faced backlash earlier for welcoming Trump’s 20-point peace plan. Subsequently, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, in a press conference, backtracked from the initial support for Trump’s plan and stated that the plan that was made public was not the same as the one discussed with Arab and Muslim leaders.
Dar announced in a post on X that the Pakistan government has been “actively engaged in diplomatic outreach, including through friendly countries, to ensure the safety and early return of all our nationals.”
Jamaat-e-Islami central emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman revealed that in a telephone conversation with PM Shehbaz, he urged “to accelerate efforts for the release and recovery of Mushtaq Ahmad Khan”.
“We made it clear that this is not only a matter concerning Jamaat-e-Islami, but it carries importance for the whole of Pakistan. The Israeli attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla and the arrests are strongly condemnable,” he stated.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also condemned the detention of former senator Mushtaq and his fellow participants.
“Food and medicine are not threats. Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, detaining doctors, activists and Pakistan’s Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, is a flagrant assault on international law and conscience.”
Israel has released and transported around 170 of the detained participants to Turkiye and Spain. As of October 6, 171 more detainees, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were deported and have arrived in Greece.
Upon arrival, the released volunteers detailed the torture they were subjected to. While speaking to Anadolu Agency, Italian journalist Lorenzo Agostino said that Israeli forces acted like a “terrorist group.”
“People were kicked. We were left without fresh water for over two days. Overall, they took every opportunity to humiliate any of us.”
Agostino also stated that Thunberg was humiliated and “wrapped in an Israeli flag and exhibited like a trophy”. Other reports which emerged at the time of writing said he had also been beaten and dragged along the ground by her hair.
French activist, Yasin Benjelloyn, who was also interviewed by Anadolu, described how Israeli forces would wake them up every two hours by storming their cells with dogs and snipers.
According to Reuters, Malaysian citizen Hazwani Helmi said that Thunberg was used as a propaganda tool and was mistreated. Helmi added that the Israelis had treated them “like animals”.
Turkish activist Ersin Celik also recounted that the Israelis “dragged Greta by her hair, beat her and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag.”
British-Palestinian activist Keiran Andrieu said flotilla members were denied crucial medicine, and appeals for medical help fell on deaf ears.
“Israel treated us terribly. It denied people essential medicine. We were shouting that someone was possibly having a heart attack, they didn’t come, they didn’t care.”
Meanwhile, there are reports that Thiago — who was also released after being detained by Israel — has been on a hunger and water strike in protest against the denial of essential medicine to fellow activists.
As former senator Mushtaq put it in earlier interviews with Dawn.com, “We are not an army or a military force; we are civilians looking to confront and break the siege.
“In case the Israeli forces attack, we have been told to embody peaceful resistance, stand against oppression and break the blockade peacefully. To put our lives in danger while establishing a humanitarian corridor.”
The Foreign Office [FO] had announced on the eve of October 7 that it was working with Jordan to ensure Khan’s release from Israeli detention and safe return to Pakistan.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, through its embassy in Amman, is working tirelessly to secure the safe evacuation of former senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan,” the FO stated.
After a week of Israeli captivity, former senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan was released and transported to Amman, Jordan, on the second anniversary of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced that Khan has been released in a post on X and that “he is safely with the Pakistan embassy in Amman. He is in good health and high spirits.”
Dressed in the same white clothes that other released flotilla activists were seen in, the ex-senator, in a video statement on his X platform, announced his release.
“We were shackled, with our hands tied behind our backs. They blindfolded us, dogs were released on us, and guns were pointed at us,” Khan said, backing the recounts of other released activists.
He added that the treatment of flotilla activists in prison at the hands of Israeli forces was tantamount to torture.
“No access to air, no access to drinking water, no access to medication,” he stated, detailing some of the maltreatment the GSF participants endured.
Khan vowed to continue the fight for Palestinian freedom.
“We will try and save Gaza and will ensure the culprits [for the Gaza genocide] are held accountable. From Adiala Jail to Israeli jails, the efforts for Palestinian liberation will continue.”
While all of this has been happening, Hamas has accepted Trump’s plan on a conditional basis and has agreed to release all the hostages, dead or alive, in exchange for Palestinian captives held in Israeli jails.
The US president has ordered Israel to stop striking Gaza and even claimed that the bombings have stopped in a post on Truth Social. In the same breath, he threatened, “Hamas must move quickly or all bets will be off,” adding that he would not accept any outcome in which “Gaza poses a threat again”.
Israel has not stopped the bombings in Gaza, and as of the writing of this article, Israel has killed 24 more people in the enclave. At least 67,139 lives have been snuffed out by Israeli bombardment since October 2023, the true toll likely much higher as Tel Aviv has levelled the small Palestinian territory, home to 2 million people.
Israel may feel that it was successful in intercepting all aid boats headed to Gaza; however, they have just motivated more people to take a stand against the oppression being meted out on the Palestinians.
With its ill-treatment of foreign nationals, Tel Aviv has exposed the true nature of its forces, if the two years of genocide were not already proof enough of the moral compass of the “most moral army in the world”.
The Global Sumud Flotilla has led to more aid vessels being dispatched, carrying medics and aid workers. At least 11 aid boats are sailing to Gaza to break the siege. Civilians have taken it upon themselves to do what their governments cannot: challenge Israel.