Israel to deport two Gaza flotilla activists detained for past week

Rights group says Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek, who Israel has accused of links to a group ‘clandestinely controlled by Hamas,’ are to be deported in the coming days

Israel will release two foreign activists taken off a Gaza-bound flotilla from detention Saturday, then hand them to immigration authorities ahead of their deportation, the rights group representing them said.

“Today, the [Shin Bet] intelligence agency informed Adalah’s legal team that Global Sumud Flotilla activists and leaders Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek would be released from Israeli detention today, Saturday 9 May 2026,” the rights group Adalah said in a statement, adding the pair “will be handed to Israel’s immigration authorities later today and kept in custody pending their deportation.”

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were brought to Israel for questioning last week after their flotilla was intercepted by the Israeli Navy in international waters off Greece.

Israel has accused both individuals of being affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a group Washington has said is “clandestinely controlled by Hamas,” referring to the Palestinian terror group. The PCPA is sanctioned by Israel and the US.

The Global Sumud Flotilla was the second initiative in a year aiming to break an Israeli naval blockade on war-ravaged Gaza, which rights groups say has suffered shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel sparked the war in the enclave, though Israel has touted increased aid.

The flotilla’s vessels with 170 activists had set sail from France, Spain and Italy, and were intercepted off the coast of Crete, hundreds of nautical miles (over 1,000 kilometers) from Israel. With the exception of Avila and Abu Keshek, all the activists were freed last Friday in Greece.

Adalah said it was closely monitoring developments “to make sure that the release from detention goes ahead, followed by their deportation from Israel in the coming days.”

On Tuesday, an Israeli court extended the pair’s detention until Sunday to allow police more time to interrogate them, according to their lawyers.

The lawyers then filed an appeal against their continued detention, but it was rejected by a district court on Wednesday.

The United Nations, Brazil and Spain have all called for their swift release. Spain summoned Israel’s top envoy in Madrid to protest the “unacceptable and intolerable” detention of a Spanish activist from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the foreign minister said Thursday.

Avila and Abu Keshek “have been held unlawfully by Israel for over a week after being taken into Israeli detention,” Adalah said on Saturday.

“Throughout their detention, they were held in total isolation under punitive conditions despite the purely civilian nature of their mission,” it added.

The two have been on a hunger strike since their arrest, according to Adalah, and the organization said Wednesday Abu Keshek had also started refusing water.

Israeli authorities have previously rejected allegations of abuse but have filed no charges against the men.

Adalah previously said authorities had accused the pair of “assisting the enemy during wartime” and “membership in and providing services to a terrorist organization.”