Beersheba court rejects appeal against continued detention of two flotilla activists

The Beersheba District Court rejects an appeal to release the two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla who were brought to Israel last week after their boats were intercepted, upholding a previous decision to extend their detention until Sunday.

The Israeli rights group Adalah, which is representing Spanish-Palestinian Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila, says the court’s decision is “both unlawful and unreasonable.”

The ruling, Adalah says, “failed to address the state’s fundamental lack of legal authority to carry out an arrest — which was effectively an abduction — in international waters.”

“A lawful arrest under these circumstances would require formal extradition. Since there is no lawful authority to arrest, every subsequent day of detention is illegal,” the rights group argues.

It further asserts that the Beersheba court “relied on secret evidence,” preventing Adalah’s lawyers from challenging it as they did not have access to it.

Adalah says that both the detained activists have been on a hunger strike since their arrest, and that Abu Keshek has since escalated his protest and is refusing water.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has claimed both men were affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a group accused by Washington of “clandestinely acting on behalf of” Palestinian terror group Hamas.

It says Abu Keshek was a leading PCPA member, and that Avila was also linked to the group and “suspected of illegal activity.”

Spain has rejected accusations against Abu Keshek.