Israel Extends Detention for Abducted Gaza Flotilla Activists

An Israeli court has granted the state permission to detain flotilla activists Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila until Sunday, despite bringing no charges against them.

The two men, who were abducted in international waters near Greece in the early hours of Thursday morning, are being held in an Israeli prison known for the torture of Palestinian detainees. 

On Monday, lawyers from the Adalah legal centre said Ávila is being subjected to “repeated interrogations lasting up to eight hours”. Interrogators have explicitly threatened him, stating he could either be “killed” or “spend 100 years in jail”. 

At an earlier hearing, the Israeli state attorney presented a list of alleged offences, including links to a terrorist organisation. It claims to have secret evidence of these offences but has refused to share this with the activists or their legal team.

Lawyers told Ashkelon magistrates’ court on Tuesday that the allegations are baseless and there are no legal grounds for continued detention.

As the activists were abducted over 600 miles away from Gaza and are not Israeli citizens, lawyers argued, Israeli domestic law does not apply to them.

Interrogations have largely focused on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a peaceful humanitarian mission, lawyers added, suggesting “detention is an attempt to criminalise humanitarian aid and solidarity”.

Amnesty International has expressed deep concern for the safety of the two men, saying they are at “great risk of human rights abuses, including torture and other ill-treatment”.

Eleven nations, including Spain, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa, have released a joint statement condemning their detention as a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”.

The Turkish parliament called the interception “piracy and a war crime”. Meanwhile, lawyers in Italy have filed two criminal complaints with their prosecutor and an urgent request for interim measures with the European Court of Human Rights.

Both Ávila and Abukeshek are being held in isolation, under constant high-intensity lighting, lawyers said. They are kept “blindfolded at all times outside their cells, including during medical examinations”, and Ávila has reported being held in extreme cold.

The two activists are on hunger strike, consuming only water.