Israel on Tuesday requested a six-day extension of the detention of two Gaza flotilla activists who were brought to Israel for questioning. Saif Abu-Kashk, a Palestinian resident of Spain, and Brazilian national Thiago Avila, who were intercepted near Crete, are on a hunger strike in prison.
The legal rights group Adalah, which represents them, said they are being subjected to psychological abuse and are not receiving treatment. Israeli authorities rejected the claims.
(Video: Foreign Ministry )
Israel says Abu-Kashk and Avila are members of PCPA (the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad), which the United States designates as a terrorist organization. The two denied the allegation.
At a previous hearing, in which their detention was extended by three days, a police representative said Abu-Kashk is suspected of contact with a foreign agent — Hamas operatives. “The very activity of the respondent in attempting to reach Israel’s territorial waters in order to enter Gaza and meet with such elements or others raises suspicion of contact with a foreign agent,” he said.
In Madrid, officials condemned the detention of the two in international waters, calling the move “completely illegal and unacceptable.” Italy also said Monday it had opened an investigation into what it described as the “kidnapping” of flotilla activists. Italian reports said prosecutors in Rome are examining the detention of Abu-Kashk and Avila because it was carried out by Israel in international waters on a vessel flying the Italian flag.
3 View gallery
Navy forces arrive at the port of Ashdod following the takeover
(Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
Attorneys Hadeel Abu Saleh and Lubna Toma of Adalah, who represent the two activists, told a previous hearing at the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court that “they were subjected to severe violence while held by the navy, forced to lie on the floor for two days face down with their hands cuffed behind their backs.” When the attorneys asked whether anything had been seized on the ship, a police representative replied: “No such items were seized from the suspect. To the best of my knowledge, humanitarian aid was also not found on the vessel.”
The Foreign Ministry said in response to claims of physical abuse that “contrary to the false and baseless allegations prepared in advance, at no stage were the two subjected to torture. Following violent physical obstruction by Saif Abu-Kashk and Thiago Avila against Israeli crew members, the crew was forced to act to stop these actions. All measures taken were in accordance with the law.”
The ministry also rejected claims of abuse against activists who were transferred to Greece. “During the process of transferring passengers to Greek authorities, several passengers refused the transfer and began to riot violently. In order to address the violence and complete the transfer, a policing unit operating aboard an Israel Defense Forces vessel was forced to use force to move some of the passengers who violently resisted. At no stage were passengers abused, and any use of force was a direct response to violence and physical resistance by rioters,” it said.