Israeli authorities have extended the detention of two foreign activists from the Gaza flotilla who were detained last week until 10 May, according to a legal rights group.
Israel-based NGO Adalah said the court's decision to extend the detention of Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila was "a judicial legitimisation" of the state's violation of the law. It noted that it would "immediately file an appeal with the Central Court [in Ashkelon] to challenge this decision and demand [their] immediate and unconditional release".
Mutasem Zeidan, a spokesperson for Adalah, told The New Arab earlier that an Israeli court was set to hold a hearing on Tuesday to consider prolonging the detention the Global Sumud Flotilla 's activists, who were taken for questioning after being detained in international waters near Greece late on 29 April.
They were among roughly 180 people abducted when Israeli forces intercepted the vessel around 600 nautical miles from Gaza. The NGO on Sunday said Brazilian national Avila had received death threats and faces the prospect of "over 100 years in prison".
The organisation also said in a statement on Monday that both Avila and Abu Kheshek had been subjected to various forms of abuse and torture while in custody . Both activists are currently on hunger strike .
During a previous hearing on Sunday, Adalah said state prosecutors had presented a list of alleged offences, including "assisting the enemy during wartime" and "membership in and providing services to a terrorist organisation".
The accusations reportedly relate to alleged links with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), which Washington claims has ties to Hamas.
Hadeel Abu Saleh and Lubna Touma, lawyers representing the activists, argued that the charges against them were baseless and that there were no legal justifications for their continued detention. Spain ’s foreign ministry has called for the "immediate release" of Abu Kheshek, a Spanish-Palestinian national, describing his detention as unlawful.
"This is a case of illegal detention in international waters, outside the jurisdiction of Israeli authorities," Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares said in an interview with public radio over the weekend. "I have made this clear to my Israeli counterpart."
The case comes amid strained relations between Madrid and Tel Aviv, following efforts by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government to distance itself from Israel. Sanchez has been openly critical of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and formally recognised Palestinian statehood in 2024.