Israel deports two activists detained on board Gaza flotilla

Two pro-Palestinian activists who were detained in Israel after sailing on a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza have been deported.

Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ávila were taken to Israel after the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), made up of 22 boats and about 175 activists, was intercepted last week in international waters near Crete, hundreds of nautical miles from Gaza. All the other activists were taken to Crete and freed.

The rights group representing the two activists, Adalah, said their detention was unlawful and that Israel's accusations against them were baseless.

Israel had said it suspected Abu Keshek of links with a terrorist group and Ávila of illegal activity - allegations they denied.

In a statement posted on X early on Sunday, Israel's foreign ministry said authorities had completed their investigation and confirmed the two activists had been deported.

"Israel will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza," it said.

Hadeel Abu Salih, a lawyer for Adalah who co-represented the activists, said their detention "was a sham proceeding with no legal basis, intended to punish them for attempting to challenge Israel's illegal blockade on Gaza".

She said the pair's transfer to Israeli custody was "a clear violation of international law" and that they had been subjected to ill-treatment while in custody. Israel's foreign ministry denied that was the case.

During their week-long detention in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, Adalah claimed the two men had been subjected to "psychological abuse", including prolonged interrogations, constant bright lighting in their cells, complete isolation, and transfers while blindfolded, even during medical examinations.

Abu Keshek is a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, while Ávila is Brazilian.

After they were taken from the flotilla to Israel, the two men's detention was extended for a further six days on Tuesday, with an appeal filed by their lawyers rejected the following day.

In a statement released on Saturday after it was announced both activists were set to be released, GSF said: "We demand explanations from the European Union, and specifically, Greece, after days of silence and complicity, and we call for immediate sanctions against Israel for this illegal abduction and for the constant violations of international law and the human rights of the Palestinian people."

The two men had been on hunger strike since the beginning of their detention, with Abu Keshek also refusing water from 5 May, Adalah said.

Brazil, Spain and the UN had demanded their release and also called their detention unlawful.

The aim of GSF is to break Israel's blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.

Israel stopped the previous flotilla set up by the GSF from reaching Gaza last October, arresting and then deporting more than 470 people who were on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The UN has warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire despite the ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas six months ago, following two years of devastating war.