An Italian member of the Global Sumud Flotilla has filed a complaint with Rome prosecutors alleging that the Israeli authorities committed acts of torture after intercepting the boats trying to take aid to Gaza at the start of this month and detaining the activists on board.

The complaint by Antonio La Piccirella alleged that “a complete violation of human rights was perpetrated” at Ashdod, the port the activists were taken to after the boats were interception.

It said armed Israeli soldiers deprived the activists of all their personal belongings and committed “gratuitous physical violence” as they searched them, adding that this “is why some activists had their arms broken.”