US Embassy Neglects Gaza Flotilla Volunteers

As a former U.S. diplomat charged with the protection of U.S. citizens outside the country, I am appalled that no officials from the U.S. embassy in Israel made visits to Givon Prison in Israel while U.S. citizens from the Gaza flotilla ship Handala were imprisoned there. One of them, Chris Smalls, the former leader of the Amazon labor union, remains so.

Lawyers with Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel have represented Handala members.

Here is their latest report, as of Wednesday, 3 p.m. Jerusalem time:

“Seven Handala volunteers remain in Israeli custody — five are currently at the airport awaiting deportation, while two remain in an Israeli prison.

This morning, five volunteers were transferred to the airport and are scheduled to depart later today: Braedon Peluso (United States), Frank Romano (United States–France), Santiago González Vallejo (Spain), Sergio Toribio Sanchez (Spain), and Vigdis Bjorvand (Norway).

Meanwhile, two other volunteers — Christian Smalls (United States) and Hatem Aouini (Tunisia) — remain detained in Givon Prison and are expected to be deported tomorrow. Both are on the fifth day of an open hunger strike to protest their unlawful detention under poor conditions. Adalah’s attorneys visited them in the past hour. During the meeting, the two reported that prison personnel had been violently raiding and searching their cells on a regular basis.

They are being held in overcrowded, poorly ventilated cells, without ventilation or cooling, despite the extreme summer heat. They are being denied basic hygiene supplies, and their sleeping areas are infested with bedbugs. With no yard time, they remain confined in closed rooms all day, without fresh air or space to move.

Seven volunteers were deported yesterday, 29 July: Ange Sahuquet (France), Emma Fourreau (France–Sweden), Chloé Fiona Ludden (United Kingdom–France), Justine Kempf (France), Antonio La Picirella (Italy), Robert Martin (Australia), and Tania (Tan) Safi (“Australia”).

Other volunteers were deported or released earlier.”

Officials from other countries whose citizens were on the Handala made visits to the prison to talk in person about their welfare, conditions and treatment in the prison and treatment by Israeli commandos when the ship was boarded in international waters on July 26 and U.S. citizens were taken against their will to Israel and then charged with illegally entering Israel.

https://consortiumnews.com/2025/07/30/us-embassy-neglects-gaza-flotilla-volunteers/