Two Gaza flotilla activists face death threats and psychological torture in Israeli prison, rights group says

JERUSALEM (MNTV) – Two activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla are facing death threats, psychological torture and threats of 100-year prison sentences while held in an Israeli jail, the Adalah rights center said Monday, following a lawyers’ visit to the facility where they are being detained.

Brazilian activist Thiago De Avila and Spanish activist Saif Abu Keshek are being held at Shikma Prison in southern Israel after being seized when Israeli forces raided the flotilla fleet in international waters last Thursday. Lawyers Hadeel Abu Saleh and Lubna Touma visited the two men and reported their findings to Adalah, which said both are being subjected to ill-treatment, psychological torture and explicit threats of death or century-long imprisonment.

De Avila told his lawyers he had been subjected to “repeated interrogations, each lasting up to eight hours, during which the interrogators made explicit threats against him, saying he would either be killed or spend 100 years in prison.” The activists are being held in an extremely cold facility and are blindfolded every time they are moved outside their cells, including during medical examinations, Adalah said. Both men have been on hunger strike for six days, consuming only water, in protest at what they describe as their illegal abduction from international waters during a humanitarian mission.

De Avila and Abu Keshek were among 175 activists aboard more than 20 boats raided and intercepted by Israeli forces as the fleet made its way toward Gaza. The activists were taken to Israel for questioning and possible prosecution, according to the Global Sumud Flotilla coalition. The flotilla’s first vessels left Barcelona on April 12, while the main fleet departed from the Italian island of Sicily on April 26 with the aim of breaking Israel’s years-long blockade of Gaza.

Adalah demanded the immediate and unconditional release of both activists and an end to what it described as illegal detention procedures. Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza since 2007, leaving its 2.4 million residents on the verge of starvation. Its military offensive launched in October 2023 has killed more than 72,000 people, wounded over 172,000 and caused widespread destruction across the territory.