Israel will deport two kidnapped Gazan freedom fighters flotilla | Story

The two were captured by Israeli forces from a support flotilla in late April and held in Israel.

Israel has expelled two foreign activists who were kidnapped from a Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters, the Foreign Ministry said.

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish-born Palestinian, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among the activists traveling with the flotilla when it happened. intervention and the Israeli army off the coast of the Greek island of Crete on April 30.

The two were to be caught by Israeli forces and were taken to Israel for interrogation while others were taken to Crete and released.

“Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila, from the opposition flotilla, were deported today to Israel” Sunday searchThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel wrote on X.

In a video shared on social media, Abu Keshek said he had arrived in Athens, Greece, and thanked his legal team.

“I want to thank everyone who has gathered, our legal team Adalah, my family, my wife and children, my friends in this group,” he said in a video shared with the Global Sumud Flotilla on X.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Abu Keshek is suspected of being affiliated with a “terrorist” group and that Avila is suspected of illegal activities.

Both denied the allegations, saying they were on a humanitarian mission in Gaza and their detention in international waters was illegal.

Spain, Brazil and the United Nations both calling immediate release of men.

Appeal dismissed

On Wednesday, an Israeli court rejected an appeal against the pair’s arrest, with a rights group representing them calling the decision “illegal”.

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaching the Israeli blockade of Gaza and providing aid to the war-torn Palestinian region.

The flotilla’s first trip last year was also linked to Israeli forces off the coast of Egypt and Gaza.

Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, which has been closed by Israel since 2007.

Throughout Israel’s war against the Palestinians in Gaza, which began in October 2023, there has been a lack of basic supplies in the region.

The war has left many people in the region homeless and dependent on aid, which aid agencies say is slowly arriving as Israel sometimes withdraws aid.