An Israeli court on Sunday extended by two days the detention of two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla, who were brought to Israel for questioning, according to a rights group representing them.<\/p>\n
The flotilla, comprising more than 50 vessels, had set sail from France, Spain, and Italy with the stated aim of breaking Israel\u2019s blockade of Gaza and delivering supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory. Israeli forces intercepted the vessels in international waters off Greece early on Thursday. Israel stated it had removed approximately 175 activists, two of whom were subsequently taken to Israel for questioning.<\/p>\n
Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila appeared before a court in the southern city of Ashkelon on Sunday. AFP footage showed the two being escorted into the courtroom, with Avila\u2019s hands cuffed behind his back and Abu Keshek\u2019s feet shackled.<\/p>\n
Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at the rights group Adalah, told AFP, \u201cThe court extended their detention by two days.\u201d Adalah reported that the state attorney had presented a list of suspected offenses committed by the pair, including \u201cassisting the enemy during wartime\u201d and \u201cmembership in and providing services to a terrorist organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Adalah\u2019s lawyers challenged the state\u2019s jurisdiction, arguing against the \u201cunlawful abduction\u201d of the two activists in international waters. Its lawyers informed the court that Avila and Abu Keshek had testified to \u201csevere physical abuse amounting to torture, including being beaten and held in isolation and blindfolded for days at sea.\u201d No formal charges were filed against the two, Adalah stated.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Hadeel Abu Salih told journalists after the hearing, \u201cWe argued that… they were part of a humanitarian mission that aimed to provide humanitarian aid to the civilians in Gaza, and not to any other organization, whether terrorist or not.\u201d She added, \u201cWe deny all the accusations that were presented… and demand these two men be released immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s government called for Abu Keshek\u2019s \u201cimmediate release,\u201d its foreign ministry said in a statement to AFP, noting that the Spanish consul had accompanied Abu Keshek to the hearing. Adalah\u2019s lawyers had met the two men at Ashkelon\u2019s Shikma Prison on Saturday. They reported that Avila recounted being \u201csubjected to extreme brutality\u201d by Israeli forces during the seizure of the vessels, stating he was \u201cdragged face-down across the floor and beaten so severely that he passed out twice.\u201d Abu Keshek was also \u201chand-tied and blindfolded… and forced to lie face-down on the floor from the moment of his seizure\u201d until reaching Israel.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s foreign ministry stated that the pair were affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a group accused by Washington of \u201cclandestinely acting on behalf of\u201d the Palestinian militant group Hamas. It added that Abu Keshek was a leading PCPA member and that Avila was also linked to the group and \u201csuspected of illegal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Global Sumud Flotilla\u2019s first Mediterranean voyage to Gaza last year garnered worldwide attention before being intercepted by Israeli forces off the coasts of Egypt and Gaza. Avila was one of the organizers of that flotilla, which was also intercepted by Israeli forces, leading to the arrest and expulsion of crew members, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.<\/p>\n
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Throughout the Gaza war, there have been shortages of critical supplies in the Palestinian territory, with Israel at times cutting off aid entirely.
\n#GazaFlotilla #IsraelPalestineConflict #HumanitarianAid #GazaBlockade #ActivistDetention #InternationalWaters #HumanRights #AshkelonCourt #FreeGaza #Adalah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An Israeli court on Sunday extended by two days the detention of two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla, who were brought to Israel for questioning, according to a rights group representing them. The flotilla, comprising more than 50 vessels, had set sail from France, Spain, and Italy with the stated aim of breaking Israel\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}