Rome – Many Italians watched the skies and the lights of Malpensa Airport in Milan and Fiumicino Airport in Rome to welcome dozens of Italian activists returning from the global Freedom Flotilla to break the Gaza blockade, after their release by Israel. They arrived on Turkish Airlines flights following a journey from Eilat to Istanbul, then two flights to Italy.

The arrival of the Freedom Flotilla activists was a moment of celebration and tears, as the welcoming crowd raised Palestinian flags and banners reading “You cannot stop the wind… Free Palestine.”

Chants mixed with applause and hugs between families, friends, and activists, reflecting both joy and sorrow shared by Italians during the “White Night” reception of the activists.

Refusal to Sign

Among them was Yassine Lafram, an Italian of Moroccan origin and president of the Union of Islamic Communities, who was greeted by a crowd of supporters at Malpensa in Milan. Other groups arrived at Fiumicino in Rome, completing the return of 18 activists out of 26 released.

Meanwhile, 15 other activists remain in Israeli custody due to their refusal to sign voluntary release documents, in solidarity with colleagues who do not hold Western passports. Notable among the Maghreb delegation were Tunisian Wael Nawar, a member of the Freedom Flotilla’s general leadership, and Moroccan Aziz Ghali, vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights, who were treated differently by Israeli forces due to their leadership roles, according to a source familiar with the flotilla speaking to Al Jazeera.

Among those detained who refused to sign was 30-year-old Italian-Moroccan Abdelrahman Amagu, head of the global organization “ActionAid” Italy branch, who maintained direct contact with Al Jazeera throughout the flotilla’s journey to Gaza, sharing daily updates via photos, videos, and audio, until half an hour before the raid on the “Paola Uno” boat, which he co-led.

Before and After Prison

During the celebration of the freed activists, the attendees did not forget the tragedy of the other detained Italians. Yassine Lafram, acting as a lawyer, pleaded before cameras and phone screens broadcasting his arrival, defending his colleagues.

He recounted their experience and what he lived in Israeli prisons: “There are other activists isolated from the world who do not know we have arrived. We must put great pressure on the Italian government and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza – to free our citizens.”

Lafram added, “They are detained in one of the worst prisons in northern Israel, just 10 kilometers from the Gaza border. It is the same prison where Palestinian children from Gaza are held.”

The suffering of the Freedom Flotilla activists was not limited to prison cells but began from the first moment on board the flotilla. Israeli soldiers seized the boats and forcibly arrested the activists in blatant violations of international waters and laws, according to legal associations reviewed by Al Jazeera.

Lafram bitterly described the events in the presence of the secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, who welcomed him at the airport, saying, “There was a flagrant violation of all humanitarian standards. We were kidnapped in the middle of the sea, where Israeli soldiers approached us and forcibly took us to the Ashdod port. The flotilla did not violate any international law; it was in international waters, yet we were treated like terrorists.”

Further Documentation

Italian journalist Lorenzo D’Agostino, who witnessed the operation firsthand, corroborated Yassine’s account, saying, “I was unlucky to undergo border inspection in front of Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir himself, who came to take a selfie with us while calling us terrorists.”

He added, “This angered his guards even more, who tightened plastic handcuffs on our wrists with maximum force and left us for four hours in freezing cold, with the air conditioning on full blast, while we wore only light shirts after being forced to remove all our clothes.”

D’Agostino, sharing his testimony with colleagues and friends at the airport upon arrival, confirmed “a continuous series of humiliations: no sleep allowed in prison, as every two hours the cells were raided, we were forcibly woken and thrown off the beds.”

According to the Italian journalist, the horrific scenes continued: “Overcrowded cells, sleeping on the floor or shared mattresses, unleashed dogs, laser beams directed at detainees’ bodies, and constant transfers from cell to cell to inflict psychological torture.”

All this was part of the experience lived by Yassine and his colleagues, which he sees as a continuation of “the humiliation of human dignity under the pretext of security, while the flotilla was in international waters.”

Growing Solidarity

Waves of solidarity with the 15 other activists detained in Israeli prisons surged through solidarity posts and protests by families and friends, expected to be organized next Sunday. These protests are anticipated to gain popular momentum early next week to pressure Giorgia Meloni’s government to intervene.

“Our citizens detained in Israel do not know we have returned, and we must continue to act until they come home,” said Yassine Lafram, who highlighted his colleagues’ suffering from constant cell transfers day and night as a form of psychological torture, noting “this situation continues with the detainees.”

The 40-year-old Lafram spoke about his friends’ suffering, but Gaza took the largest share of his concern as he paused intermittently in the Malpensa airport hall, surrounded by family and friends, heading to his family car with eyes shining with worry and determination, surrounded by tears and wishes for the detainees’ return. He expressed a sense of responsibility toward them, saying, “We must continue the movement until they all return, as none of us has committed any crime worth mentioning.”

He added, describing the trials they underwent, “We faced sham trials, placed in a small room before a judge, and at the end of the session, there was no justice or fairness, only an attempt to legitimize arbitrary detention and forced transfer.”

Between the joy of return and the pain of the absence of other activists, many returning activists, like Yassine, insist on “keeping the compass pointed towards Gaza first before the global Freedom Flotilla,” which Italians supported as a protest icon representing a living community shouting at its government and the international community alike.

There are scheduled protest events in the coming days and weeks around Gaza by Italians, as if to tell the world that “freedom is not just about activists arriving at the airport but a continuous act demanding the rights of the voiceless Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied territories,” said Italian student Andrea Lombardo to Al Jazeera.