The Shin Bet informed attorneys for Gaza flotilla activists Thiago Ávila and Saif Abu Keshek that the two would be released from security custody Saturday and transferred to immigration authorities ahead of deportation, Adalah said.
The expected release comes days after the Be’er Sheva District Court rejected their appeal against continued detention in Israel after they were intercepted near Crete and brought to the country.
Judge Tal Lahiani ruled there was no error in the lower court’s decision to keep them in custody. The two deny the allegations.
Police said Abu Keshek, a Palestinian resident of Spain, and Ávila, a Brazilian citizen, are suspected of offenses including membership in a terrorist organization, assisting the enemy during wartime, contact with terrorist elements and contact with a foreign agent. A police representative said they had tied themselves to PCPA, which Israel defines as a terrorist organization.
Their attorneys argued that Israel lacked jurisdiction because the two were detained outside Israeli territorial waters, near Greece, on a foreign vessel. The court rejected the argument, citing case law allowing Israeli jurisdiction over certain offenses committed outside Israel.
The judge also rejected claims of discrimination over the release of other flotilla activists in Greece, saying there was evidence and reasonable suspicion against Abu Keshek and Ávila specifically.
Adalah said the two have been on hunger strike and alleged they were held in isolation and blindfolded when leaving their cells, including for medical checks. Israeli authorities rejected the claims. The state provided limited details about the grounds for the arrests, citing concern over obstruction of the investigation.