From the Liveblog of
Saturday, May 2, 2026
2 activists who led Gaza flotilla have been transfered to Israel for questioning, Foreign Ministry says
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Two activists who led an aid flotilla bound for Gaza have arrived in Israel, the Foreign Ministry says, after it was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off Crete earlier in the week.
“Saif Abu Keshek, a leading member of the PCPA — an organization designated and sanctioned by the United States as a Hamas front — and Thiago Ávila, who operates with the PCPA and is suspected of illegal activity, have arrived in Israel,” the ministry says in a tweet, without providing evidence.
The ministry says the two will be taken for questioning by law enforcement authorities, and will receive a consular visit from the representatives of their respective countries.
Abu Keshek, a Palestinian-Spanish citizen, and Ávila, a Brazilian citizen, are members of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s steering committee, which is behind the repeated attempts to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.
Some 175 other activists, who had been aboard the flotilla and were detained when Israel intercepted many of the ships, disembarked in Crete.
The latest attempt to reach Gaza comes less than a year after Israeli authorities foiled the previous effort by the group.
Israeli officials repeatedly denounced the flotillas as publicity stunts, saying they brought insignificant amounts of aid.
The Times of Israel Community.