Court extends detention of 2 Gaza flotilla activists accused of Hamas links

Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek, Brazilian Thiago Avila accused of ‘assisting the enemy during wartime’ and membership in terror group; Spain calls for release of its citizen

The Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court approved a two-day extension to the detention of two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla who were brought to Israel for questioning, a rights group representing them told AFP on Sunday.

The activists, Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila, were among more than 170 detained by Israel last week when the flotilla was intercepted by the Israeli Navy in international waters. The remainder were all freed on Friday in Greece, while Abu Keshek and Avila were brought to Israel on suspicion of ties to a group the US says acts on behalf of the terror group Hamas.

“The court extended their detention by two days,” said Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at the rights group Adalah, of Abu Keshek and Avila.

Israeli authorities had asked to extend their detention by four days, Azem said earlier.

Spain’s foreign ministry called for the “immediate release” of Spanish-Palestinian activist Abu Keshek.

“The government of Spain demands his immediate release,” the ministry said in a comment sent to AFP, adding that the Spanish consul in Tel Aviv accompanied Abu Keshek, who is being “illegally detained,” to the hearing.

In a separate statement, Adalah said the state attorney had presented a list of suspected offenses committed by the pair, including “assisting the enemy during wartime” and “membership in and providing services to a terrorist organization.”

Adalah challenged the state’s jurisdiction, arguing that the activists were seized in international waters.

The group’s lawyers told the court that Avila and Abu Keshek had testified to “severe physical abuse amounting to torture, including being beaten and held in isolation and blindfolded for days at sea.”

No formal charges were filed against the two, it said.

“Both activists are continuing their hunger strike in protest of their unlawful detention and ill-treatment,” the group added.

Adalah said Saturday that its lawyers had met the two detained activists at Shikma Prison in Ashkelon.

Avila told the lawyers he had been “subjected to extreme brutality” when the vessels were seized, and that he was “dragged face-down across the floor and beaten so severely that he passed out twice.”

Adalah said that since arriving in Israel, Avila said he had been “kept in isolation and blindfolded.”

Abu Keshek was also “hand-tied and blindfolded… and forced to lie face-down on the floor from the moment of his seizure” until reaching Israel, the group said.

Israel said that Keshek and Avila are affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), which has been accused by the US Treasury of “clandestinely acting on behalf of” Hamas.

The Foreign Ministry said Abu Keshek was a leading PCPA member and that Avila was also linked to the organization and “suspected of illegal activity.”

They are both members of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s steering committee, which is behind the repeated attempts to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

Spain has rejected the Israeli accusation against Abu Keshek.

The latest attempt to reach Gaza comes less than a year after Israeli authorities foiled the previous effort by the group. Participants, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, detained on those flotillas were questioned in Israel before later being deported.

Israeli officials repeatedly denounced the flotillas as publicity stunts, saying they brought insignificant amounts of aid.

The Israeli Navy intercepted the latest flotilla, comprising 58 boats, overnight between Wednesday and Thursday off the coast of Crete, hundreds of nautical miles (over 1,000 kilometers) from Israel.

During past attempts to challenge the naval blockade, the Navy has intercepted the boats much closer to Gaza’s shores, which the flotilla had hoped to reach over the weekend.