Around 175 activists from the flotilla that left Europe were detained while trying to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and bring humanitarian aid to the devastated Palestinian territory.
An Israeli court authorized, this Sunday (3), extend for two days the detention of Brazilian Thiago Ávila and another Spanish-Palestinian activistmembers of a flotilla heading to Gaza. They are accused by Israel of having ties to a US-sanctioned organizationan NGO told AFP.
The flotilla, made up of more than 50 boats, set sail from France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade on Gaza and bringing supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory.
Israeli forces intercepted them in international waters, off the coast of Greece, in the early hours of Thursday.
According to Israel, 175 activists were detained. Two of them, Brazilian Thiago Ávila and Spanish-Palestinian Saif Abu Keshek, were transferred to Israel for interrogation.
Abu Keshek and Ávila appeared this Sunday before a court in Ashkelon, about 60 km from Tel Aviv. “The court extended his detention for two days,” said Miriam Azem, from the human rights organization Adalah.
According to her, the Israeli authorities had asked for a four-day extension. Since his transfer to Israel was announced, both the Spanish and Brazilian governments have condemned the action as a “kidnapping” and demanded “the immediate return of their citizens”.
This Sunday, the Spanish government reiterated the request after the court’s decision.
“The Government of Spain demands his immediate release,” highlighted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a message sent to AFP, detailing that the Spanish consul in Tel Aviv accompanied the “illegally detained Spaniard” to his appearance.
Ávila “was attacked”
The Adalah organization stated, on Saturday, that their lawyers had met with activists detained in Ashkelon’s Shikma prison.
Ávila told his lawyers that he suffered “extreme brutality” when the boats were intercepted. “He was dragged face down across the floor and was beaten so brutally that he lost consciousness twice,” the NGO added.
According to the organization, he said that since arriving in Israel he has been “isolated and blindfolded”. Abu Keshek was also “tied by the hands and blindfolded” and was “forced to remain lying face down on the ground from the moment of his arrest” until he arrived in Israel, the group said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry accuses the two activists of having ties to the PCPA, an organization sanctioned by the American Treasury Department. Washington accuses the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA) of “acting clandestinely on behalf” of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry claims that Abu Keshek is a prominent member of the PCPA and that Ávila is linked to the organization and is “suspected of illegal activities.”
The Spanish Government rejected Israel’s accusations against Abu Keshek. The organizers of the flotilla claim that the Israeli interception took place more than 1,000 km from Gaza and call it a “calculated death trap at sea”.
Dozens of detained activists landed on the Greek island of Crete on Friday, an AFP journalist found. In 2025, a first voyage by the Global Sumud (“resilience” in Arabic) Flotilla to Gaza attracted worldwide attention.
But hundreds of activists, among them the Swedish Greta Thunberg and Thiago Ávila himself, were detained at sea, transferred to Israel and then expelled.
*AFP
