Israel extends detention of flotilla activists until the weekend

Two foreign activists detained after a Gaza-bound flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces will remain in custody until Sunday, according to the rights group representing them, as Israeli authorities press ahead with questioning.

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national, and Thiago Avila, from Brazil, appeared in court in Ashkelon today for a second hearing after being taken to Israel for questioning last week.

The pair are being held in the southern Israeli city and were among dozens of activists on a flotilla headed for Gaza when Israeli forces intercepted the vessels off the coast of Greece last week.

Seven Irish citizens were among those detained and later released. Dr Margaret Connolly, sister of President Catherine Connolly, was also aboard the flotilla but was not detained.

“The court approved their detention until Sunday morning,” Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at the Israeli rights group Adalah, said after today’s hearing.

Adalah said both activists are on hunger strike and that today marked the sixth day of their protest.

The group said yesterday that the two men had been subjected to physical and psychological abuse while in detention.

Abuse claims

Adalah said both Mr Abu Keshek and Mr Avila are being held in isolation, with “high-intensity lighting” kept on continuously in their cells, and said Mr Avila was being held in “extremely cold temperatures”.

“They are kept blindfolded at all times whenever they are moved outside their cells, including during medical examinations,” the group said.

Israeli authorities have denied the allegations of abuse.

At a hearing on Sunday, Adalah said the state attorney submitted a list of alleged offences against the two men, including “assisting the enemy during wartime” and “membership in and providing services to a terrorist organisation”.

Adalah’s legal team disputed Israel’s jurisdiction, arguing that the activists had been subjected to an “unlawful abduction” in international waters.

Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek has been accused of being a leading PCPA member

Israel’s foreign ministry said both men were affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a group Washington has accused of “clandestinely acting on behalf of” the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

According to the ministry, Mr Abu Keshek was a leading member of the PCPA, while Mr Avila was also connected to the group and “suspected of illegal activity”.

The flotilla’s vessels set out from France, Spain and Italy in an effort to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian supplies to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, but Israeli forces intercepted them off the coast of Greece.

The first voyage by the Global Sumud Flotilla last year was also intercepted by Israeli forces, near the coasts of Egypt and Gaza.

Israel has controlled all entry points into Gaza since imposing a blockade on the territory in 2007.

During the Gaza war that began in October 2023, the territory has faced repeated shortages of essential supplies, with Israel at times halting aid deliveries altogether.