UN demands release of two Gaza flotilla activists detained by Israel

The United Nations (UN) has urged the release of two Global Sumud Flotilla activists detained by Israel while carrying out a humanitarian mission to Gaza. The UN’s call came after an Israeli court decided to extend the detention period of Brazilian Thiago de Avila and Spanish activist of Palestinian descent, Saif Abukeshek. “They must be released,” said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during a press conference on Tuesday (5/5), when asked about the activists’ detention. However, he did not provide further comments on the detention of the two. Israeli forces attacked the Global Sumud flotilla on 30 April near the island of Crete, Greece, approximately 600 nautical miles from the blockaded Gaza region. Adalah, an Israeli advocacy group for Palestinian citizens in Israel, stated in a statement obtained by Anadolu that the activists will remain detained until 10 May. The activists’ lawyers emphasised during the trial that “the charges against them are unfounded” and that continuing to detain them is legally unjustifiable. Adalah said that de Avila and Abukeshek have received “death threats” in Israeli prisons, where they are held in total isolation under constant lighting for 24 hours a day.