The first Italian members of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla intercepted in international waters by Israeli forces arrived in Italy on Thursday (May 21), amid controversy over the activists' treatment sparked by a video posted by an Israeli minister.

Dario Carotenuto, a member of Parliament for the Five Star Movement, and Alessandro Mantovani, a journalist for the daily 'Il Fatto Quotidiano', landed at Fiumicino Airport on a flight from Athens, where they had stopped over on their way from Israel.

"They fired at us twice with some kind of bullets on the boat before coming on board," Mantovani said, recalling the interception. The flotilla activists were then detained in what he described as "a place of terror."

"There was even a panic room," said lawmaker Carotenuto. "There were three people there who, saying 'Welcome to Israel', ... beat us savagely," he added.

Carotenuto and Mantovani were on board one of the ships intercepted by Israel, but were separated from the other activists before reaching land. They were later detained at Ben Gurion Airport and transferred to Athens.

Israel's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations by activists that they were abused after the flotilla was intercepted. Activists who were part of previous flotillas intercepted by Israel also said they faced abuse by Israeli forces, something Israel rejected.

Israel has faced mounting international criticism after its national security minister released a video showing detained Gaza flotilla activists kneeling with their hands bound at Ashdod port.

Italy's government said that Israel's treatment of flotilla activists was unacceptable and that it would summon the Israeli ambassador for an explanation.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani demanded an apology for the activists' treatment and what they called Israel's "total disrespect" for Italy's requests.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

FIUMICINO, ITALY (MAY 21, 2026) (AGTW - No Use Italy)

1. ITALIAN JOURNALIST, ALESSANDRO MANTOVANI, HUGGING PEOPLE IN AIRPORT TERMINAL

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN JOURNALIST, ALESSANDRO MANTOVANI, SAYING:

QUESTION: "(Compared to the previous mission) has there been an increase in violence?"

MANTOVANI: "Of course, it's much worse, everything is worse, but right from the boarding, I mean: they fired at us twice with bullets of some sort on the boat before coming on board, and not only at us. Anyway, this happens because Israel is protected by the governments of half of Europe, including our own, and so the point is this: that we only protest after things have happened. We have been asking the government for days to say a single word, to send the ship as it did last time. But we have to ask the Italian government about this."

3. MANTOVANI SIMULATING HOW HE WAS KEPT

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN JOURNALIST, ALESSANDRO MANTOVANI, SAYING:

"A place of terror. Basically, a square of containers where they kept people inside, with bread and water, though not much water at first, according to what those who had been there for a day told me. We were one of the last boats they took, so when we arrived, there were people who had been there for a while, since the day before, and as soon as you entered the reception container, they beat you up. They really beat you up. 'Beat you up' means they kicked me in the legs and punched me in the face. These are people who know what they are doing, so I don't have any major visible marks, but ..."

5. WHITE FLASH

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN JOURNALIST, ALESSANDRO MANTOVANI, SAYING:

QUESTION: "What did they say to you?"

MANTOVANI: "Welcome to Israel, this is what they said. They beat you up and told you 'Welcome to Israel'."

7. ITALIAN LAWMAKER, DARIO CAROTENUTO, HUGGING PEOPLE IN TERMINAL

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN LAWMAKER, DARIO CAROTENUTO, SAYING:

"There was even a panic room they took us into. They handed us our shoes and we couldn't even defend ourselves. We didn't know we were going into this container, and there were three people there who, saying 'Welcome to Israel', were actually three thugs who beat us savagely. I was punched in the eye, at one point it felt as though I couldn't see anymore, and I was kicked all over."

9. WHITE FLASH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN LAWMAKER, DARIO CAROTENUTO, SAYING:

"And they called us, pointing their machine guns at us. We had our hands up, and they told us to move forward. After that, we were all out of the containers, and they told us to move forward with our hands up, then told us to turn round. Those were perhaps the longest seconds of my life. After that, they grabbed us by the neck and separated us. And from that point on, I haven't heard a thing about my travelling companions."

11. CAROTENUTO SHOWING REGISTRATION NUMBER ASSIGNED TO HIM