He added, “The detention of flotilla activists in international waters truly represents a serious affront to international law.” “For this reason, our government, together with the government of Spain, which has also detained a citizen, demands full guarantees of their safety and their immediate release.”
The Spanish government has too condemned Israel detained Abu Kishk and demanded his immediate release, and like Lula, called the arrest illegal because it occurred in international waters. Abu Kishk is also a Swedish citizen, and Sweden did not condemn his detention – or even mention him by name – but it did He asked that “The rights of any Swedish citizen will be respected.”
The Adalah Legal Center, the Palestinian group in Israel that represents Avila and Abu Kishk, said on Tuesday that the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court had approved Israel’s request to extend their detention until May 10. This came after the court on Sunday extended their detention for two days.
The Adalah Center confirmed that “the court’s decision to extend the detention of the kidnapped humanitarian activists in international waters amounts to judicial approval of the state’s violation of the law,” pledging to appeal the decision, which the group said was based on “secret evidence.”
Adalah noted that “since the activists were kidnapped more than 1,000 kilometers from Gaza and are not Israeli citizens, Israeli domestic law does not apply to them.”
Israel Confirms It imposes a lawful naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, and that under the laws of naval warfare, this blockade can be imposed not only in its territorial waters, but also on the high seas.
“More importantly, the court agreed to the full six-day extension requested by the state without imposing any restrictions or judicial restrictions on the interrogation period,” Adala said, adding that the stated purpose of their continued detention was further interrogation.
“Avila reported that he was subjected to repeated interrogations that lasted up to eight hours,” the group stated. “The investigators explicitly threatened him, saying that he would either be killed or spend 100 years in prison.”
Adalah added, “The two activists remain in complete isolation, exposed to high-intensity lighting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in their cells, and remain blindfolded whenever they are transferred, including during medical examinations,” accusing investigators of “trying all the time to link humanitarian aid to Hamas in order to provide it as a service to Hamas.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry alleges that the two men were affiliated with the Popular Congress of Palestinians Abroad, which the US government accuses of “secretly acting on behalf of” Hamas, the armed Palestinian resistance group that led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
However, no charges have been brought against the couple, who Adalah said have been on hunger strike since April 30 to protest their arrest.
Abu Kishk and Avila were among more than 170 members of the Global Resilience Fleet who were intercepted and detained last week in international waters 45 nautical miles west of the Greek island of Kythira and 600 nautical miles from Gaza in what many critics described as an act of piracy.
All other members of the fleet were released. Many said they were subjected to brutal abuse at the hands of their Israeli captors, who threatened to kill them. The Washington Post I mentioned 34 people – including citizens of Australia, Colombia, Italy, Ukraine and the United States – required medical care for broken ribs, noses and other injuries. The detained activists also said that they were deprived of food and water, and were forced to sleep on floors that were deliberately flooded with water. Abu Kishk and Avila suffered visible facial injuries during their first appearance in court.
In a statement The Global Resilience Fleet said on Monday that Abu Kishk and Avila “are subjected to systematic psychological torture and explicit threats to the lives of their families.”
The statement also noted growing calls for their release from advocacy organizations and governments.
Al-Samoud added, “We urge the international community and its representatives to take immediate action for the safety and freedom of Saif and Thiago, the freedom of all Palestinian hostages, and to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza and the genocide it is committing.”
American journalist Alex Colston, who was aboard the fleet on the Zetio mission, He said He was beaten by his captors, and there were documented accounts of broken bones, concussion symptoms, and other signs of abuse inflicted on members of the fleet by Israeli forces, as well as death threats, theft of property, and other mistreatment.
Hannah Smith, a Fleet Public Affairs Team representative who was also on board one of the ships, He said Democracy Now! On Monday, after intercepting the boats, “Israeli forces pointed their guns at us. They pointed lasers at us. We had our hands in the air. They threatened to use lethal force.”
“Many people were subjected to aggressive physical force,” she said. “We were denied access to adequate water. We were also denied access to health supplies.”
Smith continued:
The nights were very cold. People’s jackets were stolen. When I advocated for one participant, a doctor, who had been walking for two hours trying to stay warm — she was wearing a short-sleeved shirt in 50-degree weather that was cold and wet. As I pushed away the blankets, the sleeping area was flooded. And then we had dozens of people walking around trying to stay warm, trying not to get hypothermia.
When we resisted peacefully, many people were beaten. Many people were dragged. I was in a stressful situation for several hours…and I heard people screaming. I heard people being dragged. It was extremely terrifying.
Reports of torture and other abuses are consistent with brutal treatment by Israeli forces against members of former Gaza flotillas, including Avila, who participated in at least three of these missions. Among the victims was Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was allegedly dragged, beaten and forced to kiss the Israeli flag in which she was allegedly wrapped after Israeli forces interrupted the Global Resilience Mission last October.
It was not just activists who reported Israeli brutality. Journalist Juaa Avishaj Chanal – who was covering the fleet last October –described Rape threats and “being hung from metal shackles on my wrists and ankles and beaten on my stomach, back, face, ears and skull by a group of men and women guards, one of whom sat on my neck and face, blocking my airways.”
2010, Israeli forces I raided One of the first Freedom Flotilla coalition convoys carrying humanitarian aid heading to Gaza, which Israel besieged three years ago. The Israeli attackers killed nine volunteers on board the ship M.V There is no MarmaraAmong them is a Turkish-American teenager Furkan Dogan.
In a letter dictated to his daughter by Avila to his lawyer from prison, Avila said: “I’m sorry I can’t be home with you right now.”
He continued: “Today, more than a million children are suffering from genocide, starving to death, having their limbs cut off without anesthesia, and suffering from horrific and hateful thoughts, despite not knowing what Zionism and imperialism are.”
More than 250,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023. Nearly two million others have been subjected to forced displacement, hunger or disease. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, and Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice brought by South Africa and officially supported by several countries, including Brazil and Spain.
“Your world will be safer because many parents decided to do everything in their power to build this better world for you,” Avila added. “I hope that one day you will understand that because I love you so much, there was nothing more dangerous to you and to other children than to live in a world that accepted genocide.”
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