Brazilian activist was on a boat that was intercepted by Israeli forces on April 29
The activist disembarks this Monday afternoon (May 11, 2026) at Guarulhos airport, in São Paulo, after being arrested in Israel. He was detained on April 29, when Israeli forces took over the boat he was traveling on towards Gaza. The boat belonged to the organization and was intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea.
Ávila went from Israel to Cairo, Egypt, on Sunday (May 10). Spanish activist Saif Abu Keshek, arrested under the same circumstances, was also deported.
On May 5, the president (PT) immediately released Ávila. He classified the arrest as “unjustifiable”.
In a statement, the Global Sumud flotilla said that, during the time they were imprisoned, Ávila and Keshek “They underwent long interrogations with the Israeli intelligence services, often subjected to violent methods of coercion and threats to their lives and that of their respective families.” According to the organization, the questions were directed to the organization of the mission.
Read the full note from the Global Sumud flotilla:
“Thiago Ávila, a militant for the Palestinian cause, kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces in international waters, arrives in Brazil on May 11, at 4:20 pm, in Guarulhos – SP, at terminal 3, after being held hostage by the Zionist regime. We will have a team on site to coordinate the press.
“Thiago Ávila, was captured in international waters, near Greece, along with 175 other people, and was taken to an Israeli navy ship called ‘Nashon’. These people are part of the non-violent humanitarian mission, which tries to break the illegal siege imposed on Gaza, bringing humanitarian aid.
“However, after two days of the kidnapping, 173 people were released, with the exception of Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukechek, members of the Global Sumud Flotilla Steering Committee, who were taken directly to Shikma prison and detained for investigation on allegations of terrorism and illegal activities.
“During the time they were imprisoned, they underwent long interrogations with the Israeli intelligence services, often subject to violent methods of coercion and threats to their lives and that of their respective families. Activists say that the interrogation was always directed at the organization of the mission.
“His legal team in occupied Palestine characterized the entire procedure as ‘illegal and irrational’. The detention was twice extended, with the court accepting the extension requests based on ‘secret evidence’, which neither the activists nor their lawyers were allowed to see or contest.
“These abductions and arrests of international flotilla participants are a direct extension of the state violence, administrative detention and torture employed against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, without due process or a legitimate justice system, for decades. The ‘legal’ procedures, based on secret evidence and a lack of jurisdiction, are the same mechanisms used to maintain the illegal siege of Gaza and the ongoing genocide.
“Thiago is free, but we still have more than 9,000 Palestinians, 400 of them children, being imprisoned and tortured inside the dungeons of the Israeli occupation, being victims of torture and threats by the Zionist regime.”
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