Ronggo Wirasanu: During the Arrest, the Israeli Army's Actions Were Very Brutal

JAKARTA - After being detained by the Israeli army (IDF) in the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) 2.0 humanitarian mission, nine Indonesian citizens were finally released on Thursday, May 21.

Ronggo Wirasanu, a humanitarian activist and volunteer from the Dompet Dhuafa philanthropic institution, is one of them. The incident was a bit of a fuss because the "SOS video" uploaded by the volunteers spread on a number of social media.

In the video, the hostage volunteer including Ronggo said that if we look at the footage, it means they have been arrested by the Israeli army. Ronggo explained that the video upload was part of the procedure for all GSF mission participants.

"The mechanism is, if one of the volunteer ships is intercepted (intercepted) by Israel, GSF will immediately publish an SOS video from each delegation with the aim of attracting the attention of each participant country," he said when talking to Eddy Wijaya in the EdShareOn podcast which aired on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

The Israeli army intercepted all the ships bound for Gaza, Palestine, which were part of the GSF mission on May 18, 2026. The ships were carrying hundreds of volunteers from dozens of countries, and carrying boxes containing food aid. Previously, said Ronggo, his ship had spent 6-7 days crossing the Mediterranean Sea due to weather factors as well as avoiding interception.

The strategy of sailing by forming a formation has also been carried out to avoid the IDF. Likewise, in the evening, the volunteer team turned off all cellphones so that their presence could not be tracked by the IDF through the signal.

The strategy was effective until the next morning. However, in the afternoon, the small boat that Ronggo and 7 other people were riding on was intercepted by Israel. The volunteers who were kidnapped were then transferred to an Israeli soldier's speedboat, then transferred and detained on a military ship. That's where, said Ronggo, the physical violence began to be received.

"We were beaten, even our friends were kicked. There were also those who were shocked at many points on their bodies. Their actions were very brutal and incomprehensible."

After being physically abused, Ronggo and other volunteers were immediately thrown into a cell on the ship. The shape of the cell was said by Ronggo to be similar to a container. On top of the open cell block, the IDF was on alert while pointing their guns.

Ronggo himself was pointed at a gun to his head shortly after his boat was intercepted by the IDF. This is because he refused to drink water from the Israeli soldiers. "I'm afraid if I drink, they will take pictures and frame it as if the Israeli army is a humanitarian on volunteers. In fact, the reality is very different," he said.

During his detention, the food and drinks provided were inhumane. The food was a large loaf of bread that was very hard. It was so hard that it could even be used as a pillow, and a plaster to hold the bones by a volunteer whose ribs were broken after being beaten during the detention.

Ronggo also heard the news that there were 3 female volunteers who were sexually harassed. Their suffering continued the next day, when they were deported to Ashdod.

From Ashdod, the volunteers were transferred to Ketziot prison in the Negev Desert. There, Ronggo witnessed the condition of the Israeli prison which was very similar to the former dog kennel. It was a cage-shaped with a pungent smell of dog feces. The prison cell consisted of several sizes. "The size of the cell is getting smaller, but the number of prisoners is actually getting bigger," he said.

One of the things Ronggo remembers is a cell measuring about 3x3 meters that was filled with 30-40 prisoners. The position of people in the cell was chaotic. Some were standing, some were sitting and bending their bodies.

Ronggo spent one night in this prison. In the morning, he and other volunteers were asked to take their passports. They were then transported in a prisoner truck to the airport. There, 3 Turkish Airlines planes were ready to take the volunteers to Turkey.

Despite experiencing physical and mental pressure, Ronggo admitted that he was not deterred from fighting alongside the Palestinians.

"Currently, there are still 9,000 Palestinians languishing in Israeli prisons, and we don't know what their fate is. What we - the GSF delegates - felt yesterday is nothing compared to the struggle and suffering of the Palestinians who don't know when it will end," he said.

Humanitarian activist and volunteer from the Dompet Dhuafa philanthropic institution, Ronggo Wirasanu said, he and the volunteers of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) 2.0 humanitarian mission had first received training for several days in Turkey, before departing for Gaza.

In the training, Ronggo et al. got a simulation of what would happen if the ship they were on was intercepted by the Israeli army (IDF). One of the things taught was that volunteers did not dare to sign documents that Israel offered. "If signed, it could hinder our repatriation process," he told Eddy Wijaya in the EdShareOn podcast which aired on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

The simulation was ultimately useful when the volunteer ship was actually intercepted by the IDF in the Mediterranean Sea. Ronggo admitted that he was given 3 Hebrew-language documents by the IDF, but he did not sign them. Fortunately, he was accompanied and directed by a lawyer from Palestine who accompanied the GSF activities.

Not only that, volunteers are also equipped with burner phones (disposable phones) for emergencies. When his boat was intercepted by Israel on May 18, 2026, Ronggo skillfully sent messages and pictures to his office to report the critical situation he was experiencing.

Without waiting long, the phone was immediately thrown into the sea before it was seized by the Israeli army. "We threw it into the sea to be safe. Because on the phone there are mission data, personal data, and family contacts that are very fatal if leaked.

Communication with the GSF office was fortunately not only via mobile phone. There is also a surveillance camera or dash cam installed on the volunteer ship. The dashboard camera monitors the situation on the ship and is connected live on Youtube. Before the camera was destroyed by the IDF, the data on the condition of the ship was recorded in real time on the server system in Istanbul. "There is a kind of special monitoring room to monitor the entire movement of this fleet of ships," said Ronggo.

Eddy Wijaya is a podcaster born on August 17, 1972. Through the YouTube account @EdShareOn, Eddy interviewed many national figures ranging from state officials, legal experts, political experts, national politicians, to local celebrities. The man with a right cheek dimple is also a nationalist who is an activist for the marginalized and social observers by helping the community through the Wijaya Peduli Bangsa Foundation.

He is also active in the field of sports by serving as the Chairman of the Indonesian Equestrian Sports Association (Pordasi) Pacu and also served as Deputy General Chairman of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) East Jakarta. Eddy also served as an Advisor to the Indonesian Chinese Social Association, 2022-2026.

His ideas were formed because of his hard work to be independent from the age of 13 to be successful as he is now. For Eddy, the world of work is not as smooth as imagined, failure and rejection are common. This is what makes him hold on to the tagline "Success is just a matter of time". (ADV)