{"id":95604,"date":"2026-05-03T13:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T13:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/95604\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T13:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T13:10:14","slug":"israel-court-extends-detention-of-gaza-flotilla-activists-as-spain-and-brazil-call-detention-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/95604\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel court extends detention of Gaza flotilla activists as Spain and Brazil call detention illegal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

An Israeli court has extended by two days the detention of two activists arrested aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near Greece, their \u2060lawyer said on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were detained by Israeli authorities late on Wednesday and brought to Israel, while more than 100 other pro-Palestinian activists aboard the boats were taken to \u2060the Greek island of Crete.<\/p>\n

A court spokesperson \u200bconfirmed \u2060that their remand had been extended until May 5.<\/p>\n

The governments of Spain and Brazil issued a joint statement on \u2060Friday calling their detention illegal.<\/p>\n

The activists were part of a second \u200bGlobal \u2060Sumud flotilla, launched in an \u200cattempt to break Israel\u2019s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance. The ships had set sail from Barcelona on April 12.<\/p>\n

Israeli authorities \u200crequested a four-day extension of their arrest on \u200csuspicion of offences that include assisting the enemy during wartime, contact with a foreign agent, membership in and providing services to a terrorist organisation, and the transfer of \u2060property for a terrorist organisation, said rights group Adalah, which is assisting in the activists’ defence.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople gather in front of the European Commission office in Barcelona in support of activists Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila, members of the Global Summud Flotilla detained by Israel, in Barcelona, Spain, May 2, 2026 (Reuters)<\/p>\n

Hadeel Abu Salih, the men’s attorney, said that the two deny the allegations. Their arrest was unlawful due to a lack of jurisdiction, she told Reuters at the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court after the hearing, adding that the mission was meant \u200cto provide aid to civilians in Gaza, not to any \u200bmilitant group.<\/p>\n

Abu Salih said that Abu Keshek and Avila \u200cwere subjected to violence en route \u2060to Israel and kept handcuffed and blindfolded until Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

The \u2060Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Israel’s foreign ministry had \u200con Thursday called \u200bthe flotilla organisers “professional provocateurs”.<\/p>\n

“Israel will not \u200callow the breach of the \u200blawful naval blockade on Gaza,” it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[37,33671,32739],"class_list":{"0":"post-95604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-israel-gaza-flotilla","10":"tag-thiago-avila"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116510813557764020","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}