Israel continues to detain two activists who tried to reach Gaza by boat. An Israeli judge ruled Tuesday permission to detain Brazilian Thiago Avila and Spaniard Saif Abu Keshek for six days longer for police questioning.
The two sailed with an international fleet that had been en route to Gaza with relief supplies since April 12. The shipping convoy, called Global Sumud Flotilla, was intercepted by the Israeli army last week. This happened in international waters off the coast of the Greek island of Crete. The rest of the approximately 175 detained passengers were released in Crete.
The Israeli forces took Avila and Abu Keshek to Israel on suspicion of having ties to a terrorist organization and “illegal activities.” In a joint statement Brazil and Spain responded on Friday that their nationals had been kidnapped. The governments of both countries demanded the immediate release of the activists “with full guarantees of their safety.”
‘Psychological torture’
Lawyers for Avila and Abu Keshek also speak of an “illegal kidnapping” and state that no formal charges have yet been filed against the activist duo, according to the AFP news agency. The conditions in which they would be held would also “amount to psychological torture,” lawyer Haleel Abu Salih said in a statement to international journalists on Tuesday.
“Both Thiago and Saif are being held in isolation,” Abu Salih said. “They are blindfolded every time they are taken out of their cell, even if they are receiving medical treatment.” According to their lawyers, the two have been on hunger strike for almost a week.
Avila told his lawyers that at sea he was also “dragged with his face on the floor and beaten so hard that he became unconscious twice,” according to Adalah – the civil rights organization to which the activists’ lawyers are affiliated. Other members of the activist fleet also say they were abused by Israeli soldiers.
Diplomatic conflict
The extension of the pre-trial detention escalates the diplomatic conflict surrounding the arrest of the activists even further. Relations between Israel and Spain and Brazil had already cooled recently due to Lula and Sanchez’s harsh criticism of the Israeli destruction of Gaza. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez accused Israel on social media last week of violating international law “by attacking a civilian fleet in waters that do not belong to Israel.”
In response to the Israeli court ruling, Brazilian President Lula Da Silva spoke Tuesday evening on X of an unjust action that “must be universally condemned.” Also the United Nations to demand on Wednesday, the “immediate and unconditional release” of Avila and Abu Keshek, and an investigation into “disturbing signals” that the two had been abused in captivity. “It is not a crime to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians and attempt to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza who are in urgent need of it,” a UN spokesman said.
Avila, one of the main organizers behind the action, also sailed twice last year with an activist flotilla to Gaza, including with the Swedish activist Greta Thurnberg. Both times, Avila was arrested and taken to Israel, after which he was deported after a few days. Avila managed to reach Cuba last March as part of a fleet that wanted to break the American blockade of the Caribbean island.
