The AFP investigation into Israel is a breakthrough – if we refuse to let it become theatre
By Ethan Floyd
For months, flotilla participants have publicly described experiences of assault, sexual violence, degrading treatment, intimidation and denial of medical care while in Israeli detention. Until now, the Australian government has offered little more than cautious concern, writes Global Sumud Flotilla participant Ethan Floyd.
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Over the past two years, the Australian government has responded to allegations regarding Israel’s conduct in Gaza with a familiar combination of concern, caution and restraint. Ministers have made limited acknowledgements of the scale of humanitarian suffering, occasionally sharpening their rhetoric when under pressure from the community. At the same time, Australia’s broader political, military and diplomatic relationship with Israel has remained largely intact.
This week, something shifted. After a meeting between several Australian Gaza flotilla participants and Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Canberra, it has been confirmed that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) will investigate allegations regarding Israel’s abuse of Australian activists who were abducted in international waters while attempting to deliver food and medical supplies to Gaza.
The significance of this should not be understated. For months, flotilla participants have publicly described experiences of assault, sexual violence, degrading treatment, intimidation and denial of medical care while in Israeli detention. Until now, the Australian government has offered little more than cautious concern, stopping short of any meaningful process that could independently assess the allegations.
An AFP investigation changes that political terrain. For the first time since Israel’s genocide in Gaza began, the Australian government may soon have access to independent evidence regarding accounts of mistreatment committed against Australian citizens by Israeli forces. This matters not simply because of what the investigation may uncover, but because it limits the ability of our leaders to claim ignorance.
For much of the genocide in Gaza, Western governments have often relied on ambiguity as political cover. In Britain and elsewhere across Europe, leaders have repeatedly avoided reaching conclusions about breaches of international law. Australia’s response has largely reflected this broader pattern. Ministers have expressed concern about humanitarian suffering, while maintaining that Australia does not supply weapons to Israel – despite growing evidence of Australia’s role within global military supply chains.
Reporting published this month traced Australian-manufactured raw explosives from facilities in New South Wales and Victoria to supply chains linked to munitions later used by Israel in Gaza. At the same time, companies such as Bisalloy Steel continue to face community opposition over the production of hardened steel for Israeli military applications, while universities including my own, the University of Sydney, maintain research partnerships with major arms manufacturers like Thales.
Evidence of mass civilian suffering receives cursory acknowledgement, but political and economic relationships remain largely untouched. Testimony is met with requests for further information. Reports from humanitarian organisations are treated as contested. Political leaders insist on caution and process, even as hospitals, refugee camps and civilian infrastructure are systematically destroyed.
This is why the AFP investigation represents a genuine political breakthrough, even if it is limited in scope. It is a concession won through sustained pressure, the strength of survivor testimony, and serious community organising in a political climate where calls for meaningful accountability have often been minimised or delayed.
At the same time, there is a risk in overstating what this moment represents. Political investigations are, of course, not accountability in themselves. The killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom should make that clear. After Frankcom and six of her World Central Kitchen colleagues were killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza in April 2024, the Australian government appointed former defence chief Mark Binskin to advise on Israel’s response.
His report was released months later. Nearly two years on, Frankcom’s family was still publicly calling for answers and accountability, while the government still says it will continue to “press Israel for transparency”.
That does not mean the process was meaningless. It does, however, mean that process can sometimes become a substitute for consequence. Governments frequently rely on procedural responses to moments of public pressure, allowing inquiries to absorb outrage while underlying policy settings remain unchanged. An investigation can just as easily become a mechanism for delay as a pathway toward action. That possibility deserves serious attention.
I was aboard the flotilla when Israeli forces intercepted our vessel in international waters off the coast of Crete. Since returning to Australia, myself and other participants have spoken publicly about our experiences in detention. These include testimony detailing physical violence, sexual assault, humiliation, intimidation and degrading treatment. These are serious breaches of human rights and deserve scrutiny. At the same time, it is impossible to ignore the broader context in which they occurred.
Some of the flotilla activists detained after us were taken to Ketziot prison in the Negev desert, a facility long used to hold Palestinians and increasingly scrutinised since October 2023. In a March report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said that “since the onset of the genocide, the Israeli prison system has degenerated into a laboratory of calculated cruelty”.
This description reflects mounting testimonies from Palestinian detainees and human rights organisations documenting violence, sexual assault, humiliation, torture, starvation, sleep deprivation and denial of medical treatment across Israel’s prison system.
This is not an abstract concern. What flotilla activists experienced matters, but it remains a drop in the ocean compared to the treatment Palestinians endure every day. For Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, military violence, arbitrary detention, humiliation, torture, sexual assault, and displacement are not isolated incidents that trigger diplomatic concern. They are enduring and increasingly invisible features of daily life under occupation, blockade and siege.
Palestinians do not receive the benefit of independent investigations backed by powerful states. Their testimony is frequently questioned or dismissed outright. In some ways, the significance of this investigation lies partly in the fact that it may offer even a limited glimpse into systems of violence Palestinians have spent decades attempting to make visible to the world.
This is why the process itself matters.
The investigation cannot become a reputational exercise through which Israel is permitted to deny, distort or simply outlast political scrutiny. Nor can it function as a diplomatic pressure valve allowing the Australian government to appear responsive while leaving those underlying relationships untouched. If the AFP substantiates survivors’ testimony, the government will face a choice. It can continue treating Israel as an exception to the principles Australia claims to uphold elsewhere, relying on symbolic gestures while maintaining defence cooperation and diplomatic normalcy.
Or, it can respond to the findings with meaningful consequences: sanctions directed at the Israeli state, an end to Australia’s involvement in the global two-way arms trade with Israel, and genuine diplomatic pressure commensurate with the seriousness of the conduct.
There is little value in establishing the truth of serious abuses if governments remain unwilling to act on what that truth demands. The AFP investigation into Israel is a breakthrough. But whether it becomes meaningful accountability, or simply political theatre, will depend on what comes next.
About the author
Ethan Floyd (any pronouns) is a 22-year-old Sydney law student and community organiser. In April 2026 they joined the Global Sumud Flotilla to help deliver humanitarian aid as part of a peaceful civilian action to challenge the blockade on Gaza.
