\n Israeli officers bring Spanish activist Saif Abu Keshek to a court in Ashkelon on Tuesday [Getty]<\/p>\n
Israeli authorities have extended the detention of two foreign activists from the Gaza flotilla<\/a> who were detained last week until 10 May, according to a legal rights group.<\/p>\n Israel-based NGO Adalah said the court’s decision to extend the detention of Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila<\/a> 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”.<\/p>\n Mutasem Zeidan, a spokesperson for Adalah, told The New Arab\u00a0earlier that an Israeli court was set to hold a hearing on Tuesday to consider prolonging the detention<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0Global Sumud Flotilla<\/a>‘s activists, who were taken for questioning after being detained in international waters near Greece late on 29 April.<\/p>\n They were among roughly 180 people abducted when Israeli forces intercepted the vessel around 600 nautical miles from Gaza.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The NGO on Sunday said Brazilian national Avila had received death threats<\/a> and faces the prospect of “over 100 years in prison”.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>. Both activists are currently on hunger strike<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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”.<\/p>\n The accusations reportedly relate to alleged links with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), which Washington claims has ties to Hamas.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n