An Israeli court authorized, this Sunday (3), the extension for two days of the preventive detention of two activists, one Brazilian and the other Palestinian-Spanish, who were part of a flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip. Israel accuses them of links to an organization sanctioned by the United Statesan NGO reported to the AFP news agency.
The flotilla, made up of more than 50 vessels, departed from France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade of Gaza and deliver supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory. Israeli forces intercepted them in international waters, off the coast of Greecein the early hours of Thursday (30).
According to Israel, around 175 activists were detained —among them, four Brazilians. Two of them were transferred to Israel for interrogation. Palestinian-Spanish Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Ávila appeared, this Sunday (3), before a court in Ashkelon, about 60 km from Tel Aviv.
“The court extended his detention for two days,” said Miriam Azem of the human rights organization Adalah. According to her, Israeli authorities had requested a four-day extension.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry accuses the two activists of having links to the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), an organization sanctioned by the US Treasury Department. Washington accuses the PCPA of “acting clandestinely on behalf” of the terrorist group Hamas.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry claims that Abu Keshek is a prominent member of the PCPA and that Ávila has links to the organization and is “suspected of illegal activities”.
Spain says Abu Keshek’s detention is illegal and rejects the Israeli accusation. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pedro Sánchez’s government demands the activist’s “immediate release.” The ministry added that the Spanish consul in Tel Aviv accompanied the “illegally detained Spaniard” to the hearing.
Itamaraty released a joint note with the Spanish government, before the extension of the prison, condemning what it classified as “kidnapping of two of its citizens in international waters by the Israeli government” and demanding the immediate return of Ávila and Abu Keshek with security guarantees.
“This blatantly illegal action by the Israeli authorities, outside of their jurisdiction, is an affront to international law, actionable in international courts, and constitutes a crime in our respective jurisdictions”, states the note.
Flotilla organizers claim that the Israeli interception took place more than a thousand kilometers from Gaza. They call it a “calculated death trap at sea.”
Dozens of detained activists disembarked on the Greek island of Crete on Friday (1st). In 2025, the first voyage of the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza attracted worldwide attention. But hundreds of activists, including Greta Thunberg and Thiago Ávila, were arrested at sea, taken to Israel and then deported.
