The Israeli Navy’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters off Crete has once again exposed the Israel's disdain for international law. While 175 activists were eventually released in Greece, Israel is illegally holding two civilian aid workers, subjecting them to a Kafkaesque legal ordeal that has already included “harrowing” accounts of torture and beatings. The detention of veteran solidarity activists Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila is a politically motivated hostage-taking, designed to criminalize solidarity with a starving population and to terrorize future humanitarian missions.
The testimonies emerging from those held captive on the Israeli vessel paint a picture of state-sanctioned violence orchestrated from the top. According to Adalah, the legal centre representing the men, witness accounts confirm that Saif Abu Keshek was separated from the group and subjected to “systematic torture,” with released participants describing his “screams echoing throughout the ship” as he was brutally beaten. Brazilian activist Thiago Avila reportedly suffered “extreme brutality,” recounting that he was “dragged face-down across the floor and beaten so severely that he passed out twice”. Both men have been kept in “stress positions” and have been on a hunger strike to protest their “unlawful detention and ill-treatment”. While Israel has predictably dismissed these claims as “false and baseless,” the visible facial bruises and the concerted nature of the testimonies from multiple released activists suggest a systemic policy of abuse designed to punish those who dare challenge the siege.
The judicial proceedings in Ashkelon are built on a foundation of sand, or rather, high-seas piracy. Rights group Adalah has vehemently argued that Israel “lacks any legal authority” to apprehend foreign civilians in international waters near Greece. The Israeli state attorney’s attempt to charge them under domestic “wartime” laws for actions that took place outside Israeli territory, on unarmed civilian boats, is a flagrant attempt to retroactively justify an illegal act of war, not one, but a series, of coordinated attacks by Israeli naval forces against civilian flotilla vessels in international waters. This “abduction,” as described by the activists’ legal team, is a deliberate escalation: a “shoot the messenger” tactic designed to delegitimize peaceful civil resistance and send a cold shiver down the spine of anyone wishing to challenge the suffocating naval chokehold on Gaza.
Unable to dispute the humanitarian nature of the mission, carrying essential medical supplies and aid into a territory where over 72,000 people have been killed and 1.5 million live under total blockade, Israel has resorted to the tool of “terrorism” designation. Accusing two long-standing peace activists of being secret Hamas operatives is not merely a legal manoeuvre; it is a propaganda tactic to dehumanize the opposition and silence legitimate criticism. The fact that these same spurious accusations have been deployed against virtually every flotilla over the past two decades, including the mission that featured world-renowned activist Greta Thunberg last year, exposes the hollowness of the claim.
The international response has been swift and damning, reflecting a growing global weariness with Israeli impunity. Spain, refusing to accept the “illegal detention” of its citizen, has demanded “immediate release,” while Brazil has added its voice to the protest. In a rebuke this week, a coalition of 11 countries, including Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Colombia, Pakistan, Jordan, South Africa, and Libya issued a joint declaration condemning Israel’s “illegal detention of humanitarian activists” as a “flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law”. Spain’s Foreign Minister has explicitly rejected the “kidnapping” of Abu Keshek, while the Turkish government slammed the “terrorist” labelling as “disrespectful to humanity.”