Israeli officers 'threaten Gaza flotilla activists with death' during interrogations

Israeli officers 'threaten Gaza flotilla activists with death' during interrogations Two activists seized by Israeli forces in international waters while en route to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza have been threatened with death or lengthy imprisonment, their lawyers said on Monday. The legal centre Adalah, which represents Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek, said the pair have been subjected to psychological abuse and held in solitary confinement since their capture last week. On Tuesday, a court in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon extended their detention until Sunday. Abu Keshek, a Spanish-Swedish national of Palestinian origin, and Avila, a Brazilian national, were detained late on Wednesday when Israeli naval forces raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters off Greece. They were taken to Israel and accused of assisting the enemy during wartime, contact with a foreign agent, membership of and providing services to a terrorist organisation, and transferring funds to such a group. Both deny the charges. Since their detention, the men have been held in cells under constant bright light, a practice intended to cause sleep deprivation and disorientation, according to Adalah. They are also blindfolded whenever taken out of their cells, including during medical examinations, which it described as a serious breach of medical ethics. Avila reported being subjected to repeated interrogations lasting up to eight hours, during which he was allegedly threatened that they would be "killed" or "imprisoned for 100 years”. He is also being held in very low temperatures, the group said. The two men, now in solitary confinement, have entered their sixth day of a hunger strike in protest at what legal experts have described as an unlawful seizure outside Israel’s territorial waters. Lawyers Hadeel Abu Salih and Lubna Tuma of Adalah told the court the case was “flawed and unlawful”, arguing there is no legal basis for applying Israeli law to foreign nationals in international waters. During Friday’s raid, Israeli forces intercepted at least 21 Gaza-bound vessels and detained 175 activists, in what organisers from the Global Sumud Flotilla described as an act of “piracy”. The boats were seized about 600 nautical miles from Gaza’s coast, near the Greek island of Crete. Spain and Brazil issued a joint statement on Friday describing the detention of Avila and Abu Keshek as illegal.