Beatings and rubber bullets: Onboard the flotilla intercepted by Israel

Summary

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Podcast Summary: “Beatings and rubber bullets: Onboard the flotilla intercepted by Israel”

Podcast: 7am

Host: Daniel James (Solstice Media)
Guest: Zach Schofield (Australian activist, flotilla participant)
Date: May 6, 2026

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Overview

This episode of 7am centers on the recent interception of a humanitarian aid flotilla en route to Gaza by the Israeli navy. Australian activist Zach Schofield recounts harrowing personal experiences during the interception, allegations of physical abuse by Israeli forces, and the broader legal and moral context of the mission. The episode provides firsthand testimony about the boarding operation, treatment of activists, political implications, and the ongoing question of international accountability.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Interception at Sea

• Initial Encounter
  • The flotilla of ~50 boats was approached by Israeli navy hundreds of kilometers from Gaza’s coast, deep in international waters.
  • Israeli drones and military vessels surrounded the boats; communications were jammed.
    • “The night before there were many drones, observation drones and quadcopters floating around the flotilla… We started to lose contact with boats through our own comms channels and then our radio got jammed.”
      — Zach Schofield (02:13)
• Israeli Warnings
  • The navy issued multiple radio messages warning of enforcement measures and ordering the boats to turn back.
    • “You are required to change your course. Any further attempt to sail toward Gaza places your safety at risk...”
      — Israeli Navy Spokesperson (00:31, 03:07, 07:59)

2. The Boarding and Alleged Abuse

• Tactics Used
  • Commandos boarded with rifles, disabled security cameras, and cut communication lines including Starlink.
  • Activists, with hands on heads, offered no resistance, trying to de-escalate.
  • All on Zach’s boat (Eros) were marched to the bow and made to kneel for extended periods, before being moved to a so-called ‘prison boat.’
    • “First thing they did... was to destroy and disable the security camera... They started to destroy the boat. They cut our cables to our Starlink...”
      — Zach Schofield (04:07)
• Physical Abuse
  • Zach alleges people were beaten, kicked, and dragged. Flashbang grenades and rubber bullets were used on unresisting activists.
  • Estimates: up to 25 required hospital treatment, with as many as 10 witnessed being beaten directly.
    • “We didn’t violently riot. We sat down and put our hands up and chanted to free our comrades... They just raided the compound and started beating people closest to the door, dragging them inside one of the shipping containers, beating them again.”
      — Zach Schofield (05:28)
    • “I saw about 10 people being beaten. There were absolutely more... up to 25 people who least had to present to hospital...”
      — Zach Schofield (07:05)

3. Legality & Justification

• On International Law
  • Schofield asserts the flotilla’s actions were legal, humanitarian, and required under international responsibility-to-protect laws. He calls the blockade itself illegal.
    • “Israel has never had any authority to intercept any of the flotillas... the flotillas have always been justified.”
      — Zach Schofield (03:21)
• On Israel’s Justification
  • Israel claimed force was used only after violent resistance. Zach refutes this, saying resistance involved non-cooperation until proof of safety for missing activists was given.

4. Aftermath and Broader Implications

• Destruction of Boats and Aid
  • Of roughly 50 boats, 22 were intercepted; many were sunk or left adrift. All aid onboard (food, supplies) was lost.
    • “They intercepted 22 of the... about 50 boats. The Israelis either sunk or left adrift all of those boats. My boat, Eros, was sunk...”
      — Zach Schofield (09:17)
• Arrest and Detention
  • Over 100 activists detained and brought to Crete. Two activists (Saif and Thiago) were taken to Israel—allegedly targeted leaders—and allegedly mistreated.
    • “They were Saif and Thiago. They’re leaders of the movement. That’s why they were targeted... Some of our friends heard his screams shortly after he was taken.”
      — Zach Schofield (10:29)
• Australian Government’s Response
  • Schofield criticizes the lack of condemnation or diplomatic action from Prime Minister Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
    • “If genocide is not a red line, if acts of piracy in the high seas are not a red line against Australian citizens, what is our government doing for us?”
      — Zach Schofield (13:21)

5. On Motivation and the Future of the Flotilla

• Why Continue?
  • For Zach and others, the mission is rooted in the belief that individuals must act against what they see as genocide, given governmental inaction.
  • He expresses intent to continue attempts to break the blockade and deliver aid, despite risks of further interception.
    • “If we want to live in a world with any semblance of human decency. We need courage and we need to do things that are worthwhile doing...”
      — Zach Schofield (14:22)
    • “If what it takes is to push on to Gaza and do our utmost to get aid to the people that need it, then that’s what’s going to happen.”
      — Zach Schofield (14:22)

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Memorable Quotes

• “My nose is probably broken, my ribs are hurting bad and probably something, maybe, maybe also broken, I don't know. And my neck also. They were kicking and they were punching, they were dragging us over the floor and we even heard them shooting at people.” — Zach Schofield (01:17)
• “We didn’t violently riot... They started beating people closest to the door, dragging them inside one of the shipping containers, beating them again. I had two flashbangs thrown directly at my feet, despite the fact that I was sitting down and doing... nothing, essentially.” — Zach Schofield (05:28)
• “It would be remarkable to believe that they would give any aid to Gaza because they are actively restricting aid to Gaza as policy. ...Why would you trust an abuser to protect the people that they are specifically abusing?” — Zach Schofield (08:20)
• “Israel has done... an act of piracy or an act of war on six Australian citizens and imprisoned us... And yet Albanese and Wong have not uttered a single word of condemnation.” — Zach Schofield (13:21)
• “If we want to live in a world with any semblance of human decency. We need courage and we need to do things that are worthwhile doing.” — Zach Schofield (14:22)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:31 - Israeli navy’s first warning
• 01:17 - Zach describes injuries and initial beating
• 02:13 - Description of interception and communications jammed
• 03:21 - Discussion of legality and international waters
• 04:07 - Israeli forces board, destroy equipment, and detain activists
• 05:28 - Recounting of events on the ‘prison boat’ and alleged abuse
• 07:05 - Details of injuries: up to 25 hospitalizations
• 09:17 - Number of boats intercepted and fate of aid
• 10:29 - Targeting, abduction, and treatment of two flotilla leaders
• 11:51 - Addressing criticism that the flotilla was PR, not humanitarian
• 13:21 - Schofield’s demands and criticism of Australian government’s silence
• 14:22 - Why activists persist despite risks

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Tone & Language

Zach Schofield is candid, emotional, at times incensed—his language is direct and confrontational about the blockade, Israel’s actions, and the lack of Australian government response. He frames the mission as a moral imperative rooted in personal conviction and international law.

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Episode Value

The episode offers a rare, immediate account from a participant in a news event under intense international scrutiny, blending eyewitness testimony, legal-political analysis, and exploration of activism’s limits in the face of state power. Ideal for listeners seeking details about the Gaza flotilla, the broader blockade debate, and the activist perspective on international law and governmental accountability.

Transcript

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[Israeli Navy Spokesperson]

You are required to change your course. Any further attempt to sail toward Gaza places your safety at risk and leaves the IDF no choice but to take all necessary measures at its disposal to enforce the lawful maritime security blockade.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

A flotilla of boats carrying aid towards Gaza was still hundreds of kilometres from the coast when the Israeli navy moved in. Australian activist Zach Schofield was on one of the 50 boats. He says the first sign something was up was when he heard the sound of drones overhead, then radio warnings, military vessels and soldiers boarding the ship. What happened next is now the subject of serious allegations and competing accounts.

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

My nose is probably broken, my ribs are hurting bad and probably something, maybe, maybe also broken, I don't know. And my neck also. They were kicking and they were punching, they were dragging us over the floor and we even heard them shooting at people.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

I'm Daniel James and you're listening to 7:00am today. Zach Schofield on the interception at sea, what he says happened in Israeli custody and why the flotilla may still try to reach Gaza. It's Thursday, may 7th. Zach, thank you for speaking with us. Take us back to the moment you realised the Israeli navy was closing in. Where were you and what was happening on board your boat?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

God, it was, I guess it was April 30th, the evening of April 30th my boat was called the, the Eros. And the night before there were many drones, observation drones and quadcopters floating around the flotilla. We, we had to the waters dreams approaching all reeds and drones around us. On the night of the 30th that happened again and so I was woken up at about 6:30 because there were, there were more drones. I got on deck to help observe, had a flare set off. We've had high, high drone activity as a flotilla. We have activated all safety protocols and we are now preparing for interception. And the first indication that we were being intercepted was that, yeah, we started to lose contact with boats through our own comms channels and then our radio Got jammed.

[Israeli Navy Spokesperson]

It is dangerous to remain on your current course. If you continue an attempt to breach the maritime blockade, we will stop your vessel and act to seize it through legal proceedings in court. You bear full responsibility for our actions.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

So you were international waters?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

Oh, absolutely. I mean, all of the flotillas have been intercepted in international waters. Israel has never had any authority to intercept any of the flotillas. Also, under international law, their blockade is illegal. And getting humanitarian aid to Gaza is legal. In fact, it's required by the responsibility to protect that was established just after the Second World War to prevent genocide. So legally speaking, the flotillas have always been justified. But the fact that Israel was willing to go so, so far away from its claimed territorial borders to attack us was surprising. Yes. Military vessel very, very close to us, they've turned their lights off and we are all sat in the cockpit with our hands up waiting for interception.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

So what happened next once you were intercepted?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

So we were intercepted by a tactical rib, a motorboat, and by, I want to say, about six commandos who jumped on board our boat. First thing they did, other than wave their assault rifles at us, was to destroy and disable the security camera that we had on us that was sending footage of our interception off to the world. We all had our hands on our heads and did our best to de escalate the situation so that we could remain as safe as possible. They started to destroy the boat. They cut our cables to our starlink so that we didn't have any, any Internet connection or communication with the outside world. And then after some time, they had us all marched to the, to the bow of the ship and had us kneel at the bow of the ship for an extended period of time while they took control of the vessel and then motored us towards the direction of what we then learned was their prison boat.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

Israel's Foreign Ministry says they only started using force after some passengers refused to be transferred and began violently rioting. What's your response to that, Zach?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

So what they're referring to there is on the second morning that we were on this prison boat, which was, yeah, a transport ship that they had turned into a prison by putting four container chipping containers on the deck. They had at this point taken six of our friends away to God knows where. We hadn't seen proof of life of these people, one of whom was Saif, who is now in Israel itself. He's a Palestinian born man with a Spanish citizenship. And we had collectively decided not to comply with any of their orders until we had received proof of life now, they wanted to get us off their boat, we now understand, to a Greek Coast Guard vessel, but they hadn't told us that. And we didn't want to move until we knew that our people were alive. So we didn't violently riot. We sat down. We sat down and put our hands up and chanted to free our comrades before we complied with any of their orders. And so to compel us, they just raided the compound and started beating people closest to the door, dragging them inside one of the shipping containers, beating them again. I had two flashbangs thrown directly at my feet, despite the fact that I was sitting down and doing. Doing nothing, essentially. A couple of our people were shot point blank with rubber bullets. And I saw Thiago be dragged into the container by his neck right in front of me and then beaten before they closed the door.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

How many people were injured during this time, by your estimates?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

I saw about 10 people being beaten. There were absolutely more. I ended up on a hospital bus when we got to Crete that went to a regional hospital. There were 34 of us on that bus, and I think about 20 to 25 of those people had presented with serious injuries. But I know more people who were beaten. There was a young woman who was part of my crew who I just saw punched about 10 or 12 times straight into the ribs by a man standing 6 foot 4 as she lay on the ground. So there was, yeah, relatively little rhyme or reason to it, I would say. Yeah, up to 25 people who least had to present to hospital, and I know more who suffered minor concussions, who decided not to attend that first hospital.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

And you were told that if you wish to deliver aid to Gaza, you can do so through established and recognised

[Israeli Navy Spokesperson]

channels, established and recognized channels. Please change your course and return to a part of origin. If you're carrying humanitarian aid, you are invited to proceed to the port of Ashdod, where the aid will undergo a security inspection and will subsequently be transferred to the Gaza Strip. You are required to change your course.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

Did the flotilla at any point think to stop and turn around?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

So, just to be clear, we didn't get that warning or that request. We would have not complied with it if we had. Because Israel's conducting a genocide, it would be remarkable to believe that they would give any aid to Gaza because they are actively restricting aid to Gaza as policy. They've been doing this since 2009. It's part of an explicit policy designed to, quote, put Palestinians on a diet to undermine their energy and their ability to collectively resist Israel's occupation, and it's been part of the genocide that's been unfolding since 2023. So, yeah, I mean, why would you trust an abuser to protect the people that they are specifically abusing? It makes absolutely no sense.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

The Flo Tittle was made up of 50 boats. How many were actually intercepted? And what happened to the eight on board those boats, Zach?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

They intercepted 22 of the. About. About 50 boats. And what we've learned is that the Israelis either sunk or left adrift all of those boats. My boat, Eros, was sunk, which means also all of our equipment, you know, all of our personal items were destroyed or in some cases, stolen. And all of the aid that we had, we probably had somewhere between 200 and 300 kilos of food specifically earmarked or Gaza on our boat, all sunk to the bottom of the Mediterranean.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

Coming up, Australia's silence on the flotilla.

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

A show of support in Crete for the flotilla activists after they were caught and detained by Israel.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

Zach, you and more than a hundred others were taken to the Greek island of Crete, but there were two activists on board the flotilla who were arrested in international waters and taken into Israel. What do you know about the circumstances of those two arrests?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

So they were Saif and Thiago. They're leaders of the movement. That's why they were targeted. And they were taken into the prison yard on that ship with us. It was during the day, on the first and only full day of our imprisonment, that they took safe. Some of our friends, heard his screams shortly after he was taken. Thiago then was taken on the morning that we were transferred to the Greeks. And as I said, I mean, I watched him be dragged out by his neck and then beaten in front of us before he was taken away. And then they simply refused to load him or Saif onto those boats. We implored the Greeks to not let this prison ship leave their waters until we had secured their release, but they chose not to do that. And to be honest, if they were going to force that prison ship to stay in waters that belong to Greece and retrieve our comrades, they probably would have had to use force because Israel's been acting with complete impunity and they don't respond to diplomatic pressure.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

Given that back in October of last year, the global flotilla was intercepted on international waters, the crew arrested and expelled by Israel, you must have expected the same thing to happen to you guys, because the criticism levelled at you is that this has been a PR stunt. What do you say to that criticism?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

Well, we're trying to get food to Gaza. It's not a PR stunt. The reason why we're trying to get food to Gaza is because Israel is starving people in Gaza. Many Australians donate to NGOs, charities like the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders or Save the Children. Much of the food that gets donated by those organizations and attempted to get into Gaza is stopped at the border and rots and rots in open trucks and never reaches the people that it's intended for, specifically because Israel wants to kill those people. Now, every credible human rights organization in the world has declared that Israel is conducting a genocide. That's also been echoed by the United Nations. This is not a matter of discussion. Of course, we did anticipate that Israel would likely intercept us, but we have now had the largest flotilla that any flotilla has had to try and get aid to Gaza. That is explicitly why they attacked us so far from their own waters, because they didn't believe they could actually stop us altogether. That's why we've gone. And they're correct. You know, we had 30 plus boats actually make it to Greek territorial waters. And I'm looking at them now and I don't know exactly what the future holds, but if, if we are able to sail again, I will be on one of those boats.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

The allegations you've made are serious. That people were beaten, forced into distress positions, shot with rubber bullets, denied proper care, and that your boat was sunk. Israel denies passengers were mistreated. What do you want to happen now in terms of the claims that you've made?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

I mean, what Israel has done is that they have conducted either an act of piracy or an act of war on six Australian citizens and imprisoned us completely outside of their jurisdiction for the crime of trying to get food to people. And yet Albanese and Wong have not uttered a single word of condemnation. They have not decided to take any diplomatic measures to cause consequences for Israel. We still consider ourselves an ally. We give them weapons, parts, we give them political support. And I think Australians need to be seriously, seriously worried about our government. I mean, I need to make this point clear. If genocide is not a red line, if acts of piracy in the high seas are not a red line against Australian citizens, what is our government doing for us? How can we trust them? How can we trust our government to do anything for us?

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

And finally, Zach, you're now in Greece. You said that you and others will still want to continue towards Gaza. If Israel intercepted you hundreds of miles away from Gaza, won't it just happen again? Why carry on, Zach?

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

Because if we want to live in a world with any semblance of human decency. We need courage and we need to do things that are worthwhile doing. I am not seeing our government take any action to firstly, protect the people of Palestine, but secondly, to punish Israel for its crimes. And they are crimes. If what it takes is ordinary people walking straight into the mouth of Palestine, of the abyss, frankly, then that's what's going to need to happen. Because I'm not willing to live in a world where one state gets complete impunity to slaughter and maim and destroy people with no consequences from a government that considers itself an ally. As an Australian, I don't think that's within our supposed values of mateship or a fair game or part of the world that I want to live in. So if what it takes is to push on to Gaza and do our utmost to get aid to the people that need it, then that's what's going to happen. And people at home I know support it and I know are going to mobilize to push the government to do their job, frankly, because that's what's required.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

Zach, thank you so much for your time.

[Zach Schofield (Australian Activist)]

Thanks, Nick.

[Daniel James (Interviewer)]

Also in the news, a group of women and children linked to an Islamic state are returning to Australia after five years in a Syrian camp. The government has confirmed that four women and nine children have booked flights home after years in the Al Raj camp in northeast Syria, where Australian families linked to former IS fighters have been attempting to leave. The labor government says it played no role in their repatriation and that monitoring arrangements are already in place. The group is expected to arrive this evening and the AFP has warned that some will be arrested upon their arrival in the country. And Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says next week's federal budget will include a $10 billion fuel security and resilience package, part of which will fund an Australian owned onshore reserve. Following a meeting of National Cabinet, Anthony Albanese announced that the government will spend $3.2 billion to establish a 1 billion litre stockpile of diesel and jet fuel aimed at ensuring Australia has reserves for at least 50 days. The package will also boost petrol supplies by an extra 10 days, provide financial support for the supply of fuel and fertiliser, including loans and insurance. I'm Daniel James. Thanks so much for listening to 7am we'll be back tomorrow.