• Israeli rights group calls ruling ‘unlawful and unreasonable’
• UN, Brazil and Spain demand immediate release of activists
BEERSHEVA: An Israeli court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal challenging the detention of two foreign activists seized by Israeli forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters, as the legal group representing them condemned the decision as unlawful.
Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists aboard the flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off the Greek coast on Thursday.
The two activists were taken to Israel for interrogation, while the remaining passengers were transported to the Greek island of Crete and later released.
An Israeli court had extended their detention until Sunday to allow further questioning by police, according to their legal team.
Lawyers representing the activists later appealed the ruling at a district court in Beersheva, but the court upheld the detention order.
“Today, the district court of Beersheva denied our appeal and basically accepted all of the arguments that the state or the police have represented before the court and kept the previous decision,” lawyer Hadeel Abu Salih said.
Both activists, who are currently on a hunger strike, appeared in court with shackles on their feet.
Abu Keshek appeared visibly exhausted, sitting quietly with clasped hands, while Avila remained composed throughout the hearing.
Abu Salih argued that her clients had faced “an illegal arrest that took place in international waters where the activists were kidnapped by the Israeli navy without any authority”.
She also accused Israeli courts of “giving a free hand for the Israeli forces… to do it again and again”.
Rights group terms ruling unlawful
Adalah, which is representing the activists, described the court’s decision as “unlawful and unreasonable”.
“This is especially egregious given that the activists were abducted from an Italian-flagged vessel, placing them under Italian jurisdiction,” the group said.
Adalah also alleged that the activists had faced continuous mistreatment in detention, including claims that Avila was being held in a cold prison cell.
According to Abu Salih, Abu Keshek has now stopped drinking water in addition to refusing food, while both activists said they were being interrogated “for most of the time, most of the day” regarding the flotilla mission.
The rights group said Israeli authorities had accused the pair of “assisting the enemy during wartime and providing services to a terrorist organisation”.
UN calls for release
The United Nations, along with Brazil and Spain, called for the immediate release of the activists.
“It is not a crime to show solidarity and attempt to bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population in Gaza, who are in dire need of it,” said UN rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan.
The flotilla had departed from France, Spain and Italy with the stated aim of breaking Israel’s blockade on Gaza and delivering humanitarian assistance to the territory.
Israel has maintained control over all entry points into Gaza since imposing a blockade in 2007.
The UN rights office on Wednesday urged Israel to “immediately and unconditionally release” the two activists and called for an investigation into what it described as “disturbing accounts” of mistreatment during detention.
