Israel to release two detained Gaza flotilla activists

Israel is set to release two Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla activists who were abducted by Israeli authorities, a rights group has said.

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish-Palestinian, and Brazilian Thiago Avila will be freed on Saturday, according to a statement from the rights group Adalah, which was representing the two men.

list of 4 items

• list 1 of 4Gaza aid flotilla activists appear in Israeli court after abduction
• list 2 of 4Who are the two Gaza flotilla activists abducted by Israel?
• list 3 of 4Detained Gaza aid flotilla activists arrive in Netherlands
• list 4 of 4Is Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla legal?

end of list

The pair will be handed over to immigration authorities and held in custody pending their deportation.

Hadeel Abu Salih, the lawyer who co-represented the pair in Israeli courts, told Al Jazeera that they are “expected to be released to their home countries in the coming days”.

Adalah said it is “closely monitoring” the situation to ensure the release goes ahead.

Abu Keshek and Avila were among dozens of activists who set sail for Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Greece.

While the other 168 members of the flotilla were taken to Crete and then released, the two were taken to Israel and detained for further questioning.

The vessel was part of a humanitarian effort seeking to reach Gaza with aid amid the ongoing war and Israel’s blockade.

Abu Salih said their abduction was a “clear violation of international law”.

The lawyer said throughout this ordeal, the legal team “argued that this entire process was a sham proceeding with no legal basis, intended to punish them for attempting to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade”.

During their detention, Abu Kushek and Avila were “held in total isolation under punitive conditions despite the purely civilian nature of their mission”, Adalah said.

It added that both activists were on a hunger strike, with Abu Keshek escalating his protest by refusing water since Tuesday. Israeli authorities have been accused of abuse, but they have denied this.

On Tuesday, an Israeli court extended their imprisonment until Sunday, despite authorities not filing any charges against the pair, but they faced accusations of being affiliated with “terrorist organisations and foreign agents”, Adalah previously told Al Jazeera.

Abu Salih dismissed Israel’s claims, saying that the pair were detained over “baseless accusations and subjected to ill-treatment”.

“Israel’s actions in this case, the unlawful interception and abduction, arbitrary detention, and torture, constitute grave violations of international law, enabled by the impunity Israel continues to enjoy,” she said.