Eight Gaza flotilla activists to remain in custody
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg chose deportation and has flown out to Sweden, along with three other demonstrators.
Late Tuesday night, the Detention Review Tribunal upheld the Interior Ministry’s custody orders for the eight pro-Palestinian activists who were detained when the Madleen Freedom Flotilla tried to reach the Gaza Strip earlier this week.
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which is representing the activists, said it received notice of the tribunal’s decision on Wednesday morning.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg chose deportation and has flown out to Sweden, along with three other demonstrators.
The eight that remain are Suayb Ordu from Turkey, Mark van Rennes from the Netherlands, Pascal Maurieras from France, Reva Viard from France, Rima Hassan from France, Thiago Avila from Brazil, Yanis Mhamdi from France, and Yasemin Acar from Germany.
Legal challenge in deportation order
Adalah’s lawyers argued that the law applied by the tribunal – “illegal entry into Israel” – is not applicable here, as the activists never sought to enter Israel proper but rather Gaza.The tribunal rejected this claim, arguing that the limited blockade Israel is imposing on Gaza now is justified. Israel has said that this is due to fears that weapons will get to Hamas.
The tribunal added that the activists knowingly attempted to breach what it said was a legal blockade.
Legally, people who have been issued deportation orders have 72 hours in detention before they are forcibly removed – unless they leave beforehand of their own accord.
Two taken for solitary confinement
The crew docked into Ashdod port on Monday after the boat was seized by Israeli authorities.Adalah later updated that its legal team met with the detainees on Wednesday, and that Avila and Hassan were taken to separate detention facilities for solitary confinement.
The aid group said that Avila was transferred to Ayalon prison. He began a hunger and thirst strike two days ago, and told the lawyers he was “treated aggressively by prison authorities.”
Hassan, who is a member of the French parliament and is of Palestinian origin, was transferred to the Neveh Tirza women’s prison in Ramle, said Adalah. She had written “Free Palestine” on a wall in the Givon detention facility, where the other six are still being held. The organization then said that Hassan was moved back to Givon, while saying that Avila remains in solitary confinement.
Hassan has previously drawn wide criticism for her denial that the Bibas family, excluding Yarden Bibas, were murdered, her claim that the October 7 massacre was “legitimate,” and her insistence that Palestinians in Europe should be allowed to join the “resistance.”
