Israel/OPT
07.05.26
Urgent Interventions

Israel must release Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek who were abducted from the Global Summed Flotilla

© Adalah
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URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY

ISR 001 / 0526 / OBS 022 

Arbitrary detention 
Abduction /
Ill-treatment and torture /

Incommunicado detention

Israel

7 May 2026

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Israel.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by Adalah (The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel) of the abduction, arbitrary detention and acts of ill-treatment against Thiago Ávila e Silva Oliveira and Saif Abukeshek, two human rights defenders involved in the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), a civilian initiative aiming to break the illegal blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, and to express solidarity with the Palestinian population, enduring an ongoing genocide. Saif Abukeshek is a Palestinian-Swedish-Spanish activist based in Barcelona who is president of the World Coalition Against the Occupation in Palestine and has worked for years to mobilise Palestinians in exile and across the diaspora in this struggle. Thiago Ávila is a Brazilian environmental activist, who has been engaged for more than twenty years in campaigns for economic and environmental justice, and who is also deeply involved in solidarity with Palestine. He is a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla Steering Committee and a spokesperson for the initiative.

On 5 May 2026, the Ashkelon Magistrates’ Court, in southern Israel, extended the detention of both defenders by six days despite no formal charges having been filed. Their lawyers’ appeal was rejected the following day. At the time of publication of this urgent appeal, Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek remain in arbitrary detention at Shikma detention under conditions amounting to ill-treatment, and they continue their hunger strike. Their health condition is rapidly deteriorating.

On 30 April 2026, Israeli naval forces intercepted several vessels participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters near Crete, Greece, with approximately 175 activists on board. The Israeli authorities subsequently released them except for two activists: Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek, who were extraterritorially abducted, illegally detained incommunicado for two days in Israeli naval custody aboard an Italian-flagged ship before being taken to the Shikma detention facility in Ashkelon, southern Israel, where they remain detained.

On 1 May 2026, all other activists were disembarked in Crete and transferred to a beach before being transported by bus to Heraklion airport. Thirty-four of them were taken from the beach to a local hospital for medical examination and treatment. Several activists reported being subjected to physical violence by Israeli forces when they resisted the extraterritorial abduction of Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek. While most have since been released and are safe, one activist remains in hospital.

On 2 May 2026, Adalah lawyers conducted the first visit to the Shikma prison, where both individuals were illegally detained. During this meeting, which was their first opportunity to communicate their situation, Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek reported physical violence, degrading treatment, and being held for prolonged periods in stress positions by Israeli military forces while at sea. Adalah lawyers subsequently informed their relatives and relevant contacts of their situation.

From 2 May until the day of publication of this urgent appeal, Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek have been detained at Shikma detention facility in Ashkelon, Israel. They testified that they were in total isolation, subjected to 24/7 high-intensity lighting in their cells and kept blindfolded whenever they were moved, including during medical examinations. During this period, Thiago Ávila has been subjected to repeated interrogations lasting up to eight hours, where the Israeli Intelligence Agency (ISA) (also known as the “Shabak” or the “Shin Bet”) has explicitly threatened him, stating he would either be “killed” or “spend 100 years in jail.” The Observatory further notes that both defenders have initiated a hunger strike to protest their detention and treatment, with Abukeshek escalating to a dry hunger strike (without food or water) as of 6 May 2026. 

On 3 May 2026, the Ashkelon Magistrates’ Court extended Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek’s detention by two days. During the hearing, Israeli authorities presented a list of suspected offenses including assisting the enemy during wartime, contact with a foreign agent, membership in and providing services to a terrorist organisation, and the transfer of property for a terrorist organisation. However, providing aid to a civilian population via a humanitarian flotilla cannot, as such, be considered as serving a terrorist organisation. The report A/HRC/61/52 of the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights excludes acts of advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action that do not cause death or serious injury from the definition of terrorism. Adalah further argued that because the activists were abducted over 1,000 kilometers away from Gaza, Israel lacked legal authority to carry out their arrest, rendering the detention fundamentally unlawful.

On 5 May 2026, Magistrates’ Court Judge Yaniv Ben-Haroush of the Ashkelon Magistrates’ Court granted the state’s request to extend the detention of humanitarian activists Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek for an additional six days, until Sunday, 10 May 2026, at 9:00, in part based on secret evidence that neither the activists nor their lawyers were permitted to review. Although no formal charges have been filed, their detention is for the purposes of ongoing interrogation, which has been approved by the courts for a total period of one week to date, with the courts thus far failing to intervene in the activists' ongoing unlawful detention. Adalah’s appeal against the decision, filed on 5 May 2026 to the District Court, was rejected on 6 May 2026.

The Observatory recalls that OMCT, FIDH, and their respective network members have extensively documented the systematic use of torture by Israeli authorities, including in the context of the review of Israel by the UN Committee Against Torture in November 2025, as a means of dehumanisation and control over the Palestinian people - a pattern that has reached unprecedented levels of brutality since October 2023. Testimonies, legal analyses, and case studies reveal torture as a tool of political subjugation and war in the context of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. The Observatory had also previously denounced the arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla in Israeli prisons when previously intercepted in 2025. The recent arrest of Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek further reinforces concerns regarding the criminalisation of humanitarian action and the use of detention measures to deter similar future initiatives.

The Observatory further recalls that the Global Sumud Flotilla is a legitimate, peaceful, and non-violent initiative, done in line with the principles of solidarity and the right to defend human rights. The violent repression of this initiative and the ongoing mistreatment of its participants are part of a broader pattern of state-sanctioned violence against Palestinians and international actors in solidarity with Palestinians that seeks to silence voices denouncing Israel’s ongoing genocide and concrete acts to challenge the illegal siege in Gaza.

The Observatory strongly condemns the extraterritorial abduction, incommunicado detention and acts of torture and ill-treatment against Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek, which appear to be solely aimed at punishing them for their peaceful humanitarian action and to stand for justice, dignity, and human rights in Palestine, and at deferring other flotilla solidarity actions. 

The Observatory finally recalls that Israel is bound by its obligations under international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which prohibits arbitrary detention under Article 9, and the United Nations Convention against Torture (CAT) and UN Committee Against Torture’s concluding observations, which prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The Observatory urges the Israeli authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek and to guarantee their access to legal counsel, adequate medical care, and regular contact with their families.

The Observatory will continue to closely monitor the situation, particularly as four Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessels have reported seeing drones and a helicopter circling them in recent days.

Action required:

Please write to the Israeli authorities urging them to:

  1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek, as well as all other human rights defenders involved in Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessels;
  2. Immediately and unconditionally release Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek since their detention and the judicial harassment against them is aimed at punishing them for their legitimate humanitarian and solidarity activities for the Palestinian people;
  3. Carry out an immediate, thorough, transparent, and independent investigation into the above-mentioned acts of torture and ill-treatment against Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek, and hold all those responsible accountable;
  4. Immediately end the systematic and widespread use of torture and other ill-treatment in Israeli detention facilities, in accordance with the UN Convention against Torture and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;
  5. Guarantee to Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek regular access to legal counsel of their choice, as well as to communication with their families;
  6. Ensure that human rights activists supporting the Palestinian people, as well as all human rights defenders, can carry out their activities freely and without fear of reprisals.

Please write to the Swedish, Spanish and Brazilian authorities urging them to:

  1. Call the Israeli authorities to guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek ;
  2. Call the Israeli authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek and use all the tools at their disposal to ensure the activists’ release, since their detention and the judicial harassment against them is aimed at punishing them for their legitimate humanitarian and solidarity activities for the Palestinian people ;
  3. Address the systematic and widespread nature of torture and other ill-treatment in Israel and to ensure accountability for crimes committed under international law;  
  4. Request that their official representation participate in the hearings against Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek and monitor compliance with international standards ;
  5. Visit Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek in prison and assess the conditions of detention and the well-being of these individuals ;
  6. And to provide support and assistance to the families of Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek.

Addresses:

Israel

  • Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel
Email : public@president.gov.il
X : @Isaac_Herzog

  • Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel
Email : pm@pmo.gov.il
X : @netanyahu

  • Israel Katz, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Email : sar@mfa.gov.il
X : @Israel_katz

  • Yariv Levin, Minister of Justice
Email : sar@justice.gov.il

  • Attorney General of Israel (poste actuellement occupé par Gali Baharav-Miara)
Email : yoetz@justice.gov.il

  • State Attorney / Director of Public Prosecutions (bureau du procureur d’État)
Email : stateattorney@justice.gov.il

  • Israel Ministry of Justice (contact général)
Email : info@justice.gov.il

  • Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Email : info@mfa.gov.il

  • Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva
Email : mission-geneva@mfa.gov.il

  • Mission of Israel to the European Union
Email : mission-eu@mfa.gov.il

Sweden

  • Carl XVI Gustaf, Head of State (King of Sweden), 
Contact : via la Cour royale, 
Email (général) : info@kungahuset.se

  • Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden, 
Contact : Prime Minister’s Office, 
Téléphone : +46 8 405 10 00 


  • Maria Malmer Stenergard, Minister for Foreign Affairs
Contact : Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Téléphone (standard) : +46 8 405 10 00 

  • Gunnar Strömmer, Minister of Justice, 
Contact : Ministry of Justice
Téléphone : +46 8 405 10 00 

  • Attorney General of Sweden (Chancellor of Justice), Anna Skarhed, 
Email : registrator@jk.se

  • Director of Public Prosecutions – Petra Lundh
Email : registrator@aklagare.se

  • Swedish Prosecution Authority
Email : registrator@aklagare.se

  • Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden
Email : ud.registrator@gov.se

  • Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations in Geneva
Email : mission.geneva@gov.se

  • Mission of Sweden to the European Union
Email : representation.eu@gov.se

Spain

  • Felipe VI, Head of State (King of Spain)
Contact : Casa Real
Email : comunicacion@casareal.es
  • Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain
Contact : Presidencia del Gobierno
Email (général) : publica@mpr.es
  • José Manuel Albares, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Contact : Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación
Email (information générale) : informae@maec.es
  • Félix Bolaños, Minister of Justice
Contact : Ministerio de la Presidencia, Justicia y Relaciones con las Cortes
Email (général) : contacto@mpr.es
  • Attorney General of Spain (Fiscal General del Estado) – Álvaro García Ortiz
Contact : Fiscalía General del Estado
Email : fiscalia.general@fiscal.es
  • State Prosecutor’s Office / Ministerio Fiscal
Email : fiscalia.general@fiscal.es
  • Ministerio de Justicia
Email (général) : informacion@mjusticia.es
  • Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación
, Emails utiles : informae@maec.es ; consular@maec.es
  • Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations in Geneva
Email : mision.ginebra@maec.es
  • Permanent Representation of Spain to the European Union
Email : rep.ue@maec.es

Brazil

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Israel, Sweden, Spain, Brazil in your respective countries.

***

Geneva-Paris, 7 May 2026

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken, quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

• E-mail: alert@observatoryfordefenders.org

• Tel FIDH: + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18

• Tel OMCT: + 41 22 809 49 39

Tags

Threats, intimidation and harassment
Minorities and marginalised communities

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