{"id":426561,"date":"2026-05-05T14:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/426561\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T14:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:10:13","slug":"court-remands-2-flotilla-activists-until-sunday-lawyer-claims-one-was-on-fishing-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/426561\/","title":{"rendered":"Court remands 2 flotilla activists until Sunday; lawyer claims one was on fishing trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Israeli court extended the detention of two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla until Sunday, according to police and their lawyers, as authorities continued to question the pair.<\/p>\n

Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila appeared Tuesday before the Ashkelon Magistrate\u2019s Court for their second hearing, after they were brought to Israel for questioning last week after naval forces inteercepted several boats from the flotilla.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court approved their detention until Sunday morning,\u201d Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at the Israeli rights group Adalah, which represents the detainees, told AFP.<\/p>\n

Police said the court accepted their request for a five-day remand extension, adding that not all the suspected offenses are related to the flotilla.<\/p>\n

Adalah said it would appeal the extension of the remand.<\/p>\n

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A lawyer for Avila claimed in court that he hadn\u2019t been on his way to Gaza, but rather had been on a fishing journey to Greece, according to Hebrew media.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tBrazilian activist Thiago Avila is escorted into the Ashkelon Magistrate\u2019s Court on May 5, 2026. (Ilia YEFIMOVICH \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

The flotilla\u2019s vessels, with 170 activists, had set sail from France, Spain, and Italy with the aim of breaking Israel\u2019s blockade of Gaza. The Israeli Navy intercepted the flotilla, comprising 58 boats, overnight between Wednesday and Thursday off the coast of Crete, hundreds of nautical miles (over 1,000 kilometers) from Israel.\u00a0With the exception of Avila and Abu Keshek, all the activists were freed on Friday in Greece.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s foreign ministry says both individuals were affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a group accused by Washington of \u201cclandestinely acting on behalf of\u201d Palestinian terror group Hamas.<\/p>\n

The ministry says Abu Keshek was a leading PCPA member, and that Avila was also linked to the group and \u201csuspected of illegal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

At their first hearing on Sunday, the court extended their detention by two days. At the second hearing on Tuesday, both appeared with their legs shackled.<\/p>\n

Adalah said the two activists were on hunger strike, with Tuesday their sixth day of protest.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA boat from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla is seen during a symbolic send-off at a port in Barcelona, Spain, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Joan Mateu Parra)<\/p>\n

On Monday, the rights group alleged the pair had been subjected to physical and psychological abuse in detention.<\/p>\n

Both Abu Keshek and Avila are being held in isolation, with \u201chigh-intensity lighting\u201d on at all times in their cells, Adalah said, adding that Avila was being held in \u201cextremely cold temperatures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are kept blindfolded at all times whenever they are moved outside their cells, including during medical examinations,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Israeli authorities have rejected the abuse claims.<\/p>\n

At Sunday\u2019s hearing, Adalah said the state attorney had presented a list of offences the pair were accused of, including \u201cassisting the enemy during wartime\u201d and \u201cmembership in and providing services to a terrorist organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Adalah\u2019s lawyers challenged the state\u2019s jurisdiction, arguing there had been an \u201cunlawful abduction\u201d of the two activists in international waters.<\/p>\n

Spain has rejected the Israeli accusation against Abu Keshek.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tActivists from the Global Sumud Flotilla stand at the port of Atherinolakkos on the island of Crete after disembarking from a Greek Coast Guard vessel, following their interception by the Israeli Navy in international waters, on May 1, 2026. (Eleftherios Elis MITZA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

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\u00a0deported.<\/p>\n

Israeli officials repeatedly denounced the flotillas as publicity stunts, saying they brought insignificant amounts of aid.<\/p>\n


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\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Israeli court extended the detention of two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla until Sunday, according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[200428,6609,8319,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-426561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-ashkelon-magistrates-court","tag-gaza-flotilla","tag-global-sumud-flotilla","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}