VANCOUVER - The night before a violent confrontation between Israeli soldiers and activists headed for the blockaded Gaza Strip was a tense and sleepless one, says a Canadian activist who was on board.

Rifat Audeh, one of three Canadians detained during the raid off the Gaza coast, told The Canadian Press that they'd heard reports Israeli forces might try and “attack” the convoy. Nine people died in the confrontation.

The 37-year-old resident of St. Catharines, Ont., said he was near the cabin of the Mavi Marmara early Monday morning when he heard the first shots ring out.

“They started shooting at the ship itself for no reason whatsoever,” he said in a telephone interview Wednesday from Amman, Jordan, where he arrived after being released by Israeli authorities. “We're a humanitarian ship, we were unarmed, we're all civilians, we had no weapons onboard.”

He described a scene of chaos, as activists raced back and forth to help dozens of wounded.

Audeh said he watched helplessly as a man standing six or seven metres away from him died after a bullet ripped through his neck.

“Had I tried to move towards him, I definitely would have been shot,” he said.

Audeh said the nightmare didn't end when the bullets stopped flying.

In Israeli custody, he said he and a number of activists were beaten, and were prevented from communicating with the outside world or even using the bathroom.

“We were just heading in there (to the Gaza Strip), we wanted to deliver these supplies,” he said. “No one in the world really knows why Israel did what they did.”

Video released of the incident by the Israeli government appears to show some activists acting violently towards soldiers. Israeli officials have said the footage proves its soldiers acted in self-defence, but Audeh disagreed.

He pointed out that the raid occurred outside Israel's territorial waters.

“It was an act of piracy,” he said.

“A while” after the first shots rang out, Audeh said, the captain came on over the loudspeaker and urged those who could return to the cabin area to do so. He did.

“I was beaten by the soldiers. They tied my hands behind my back, put a blindfold on me, threw me on the ground,” he said. “I thought they were actually going to break my arms and legs while they were doing this because it was very violent.”

When they were finally taken off the ship, the day after the altercation, he said the detainees were stripped of their passports and personal belongings, including cameras.

“They confiscated everything and then they took us to jail after that,” he said.

“They cut us off from the outside world. We couldn't call a lawyer, our families, we couldn't call anybody. Nobody knew whether we were dead or alive until we were finally released (Tuesday).”

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Audeh made his way to Jordan, where he's staying with his parents who call Amman home.

He said he doesn't know when he'll return to Canada. If another convoy leaves for Gaza, he intends to be on it.

All of the nearly 700 activists, including the two other Canadians, were expected to be deported from Israel by the end of Wednesday, the Israeli government said. Audeh identified the other Canadians as Kevin Neish, of Victoria, and Farooq Burney.

Audeh said he actually had a brief chat with both his fellow Canadians.

“We were happy to find each other on the ship,” he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has not named any of the Canadians, citing privacy laws.

Foreign Affairs did say Wednesday the other two Canadians have been transported to the airport by Israeli authorities and will make their way to Turkey, before travelling to their final destinations.

Neish's brother Steve said Wednesday his sibling was waiting for a flight out of Israel Wednesday afternoon. It was unclear when exactly he'd arrive back in Victoria.

Burney is the director of Qatar-based Al-Fakhoora, a group dedicated to promoting freedom of learning for students in Gaza and the West Bank.

Al-Fakhoora posted a statement on its website saying Burney intended to deliver computers to university students in Gaza.

It said he is now en route to Istanbul and will shortly return to Qatar.

“We are all relieved to hear the news that our director, Farooq, is safe and will soon be back in Doha,” Al-Fakhoora chair Jacqueline O'Rourke said. “It has been an extremely worrying few days for us and Farooq's family, with no news.”

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