Four British nationals detained by Israel after joining the Global Sumud Flotilla to deliver aid to Gaza returned to the UK on Wednesday.
James Hickey, Malcolm Ducker, Hannah Sharpey-Schafer and Sid Khan arrived at London's Heathrow Airport from Amman, Jordan.
On arrival, their passports were confiscated and they were detained by border police. Hickey and Khan were released shortly afterwards, while Ducker and Sharpey-Schafer were only able to leave the airport two hours later.
"We were abused and detained on arrival in the UK," Hickey said.
Khan, reading from a joint statement, described the flotilla as a peaceful initiative to challenge Israel's blockade of Gaza, saying that on Oct. 1, 50 nautical miles (92 kilometers) from Gaza, they were hijacked in international waters by armed commandos.
Khan said detainees were left handcuffed in the sun for hours, deprived of medicines, subjected to strip searches, and kept in overcrowded cells. He said consular support was minimal compared to that provided by other European governments, which arranged swift repatriations for their nationals.
Ducker also criticized UK authorities, claiming consular staff failed to secure improvements in their treatment. He called the government's stance "morally bankrupt" and accused it of prioritizing ties with Israel over the protection of its citizens.
The activists stressed that their own ordeal was minor compared to the suffering of Palestinians under siege in Gaza.
Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 boats last week that were part of the Gaza-bound flotilla and detained over 450 activists on board. Most of them have been deported.
Israel, as the occupying power, has also previously attacked Gaza-bound ships, seized their cargo and deported the activists on board.
It has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for nearly 18 years and tightened the siege in March, when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave into famine.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.
Negotiations to end the war, according to a 20-point plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump, are underway in Egypt.
