{"id":105714,"date":"2026-05-06T12:29:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T10:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=105714"},"modified":"2026-05-06T12:29:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T10:29:05","slug":"adalah-lawyers-to-appeal-extension-of-saif-and-thiagos-detention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/adalah-lawyers-to-appeal-extension-of-saif-and-thiagos-detention\/","title":{"rendered":"Adalah lawyers to appeal extension of Saif and Thiago\u2019s detention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n6 May 2026 | 12:28 CAT
\n3-minute read<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Two international activists remain detained after being seized in\u00a0international waters nearly 1000 kilometers from Gaza with an Israeli court extending their\u00a0detention by six days amid allegations of isolation and abuse.<\/p>\n

On 30 April 2026, Israeli naval forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla which was carrying humanitarian aid bound for Gaza. Israeli forces ambushed over 40 vessels and initially detained approximately 175 activists near Crete. While most activists were released in Greece, two organisers \u2013 Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago \u00c1vila\u2014remain in Israeli custody.<\/p>\n

Hassen Jabareen, a leading Palestinian human rights lawyer and the General Director of Adalah (the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel) described the gravity of the situation during an interview<\/a> on Radio Islam International.<\/p>\n

For two days, Israeli soldiers forced Saif and Thiago to lie face down on the deck of a naval vessel, where they were physically restrained, kicked, doused with cold water, and threatened with being thrown overboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of them were threatening them that we are going to throw you to the sea.\u00a0Nobody will see you. Nobody will know. And then when they were taken to the prison in Israel,\u00a0in Ashkelon, they were both in very, very, very cold cell, each of them alone in separation.\u00a0Very, very cold cell. And they covered their eyes. Even one of them went to doctor with\u00a0the covering of the eyes and beating them,\u201d Jabareen said.<\/p>\n

Israeli occupation forces are detaining them on false allegations, accusing them of being part of a \u201cterrorist organisation\u201d, supporting the \u201cenemy\u201d and having links to foreign agents.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those charges only just because they try to enter Gaza\u00a0for humanitarian causes through the boats, through flotilla.”<\/p>\n

Jabareen said the allegations are baseless, asserting that Israel labels anyone attempting to enter Gaza as affiliated with \u201cterrorist organisations,\u201d while claims of links to foreign agents rest on the broad assumption that any foreign contact constitutes such a connection.<\/p>\n

During their first appearance at the Ashkelon Magistrate\u2019s Court, the state attempted to secure a four-day initial detention period, but the court approved a two-day extension, meaning Saif and Thiago were scheduled to be held until Tuesday, 5 May.<\/p>\n

Lawyers from Adalah argued that the court lacked jurisdiction because the activists were foreign nationals abducted in international waters far from Gaza.<\/p>\n

At the second hearing, the state requested a six-day extension, citing the need for more time to review \u201csecret evidence\u201d.<\/p>\n

Adalah lawyers will today appeal the extension decision at the district court in Beersheba in Southern Israel on the grounds that the court granted it \u201cwithout imposing any limitations or judicial constraints\u201d on the interrogation period, which is \u201ca judicial validation of the state\u2019s lawlessness\u201d.<\/p>\n

The activists remain in solitary confinement at Shikma Prison and have been on a hunger strike since their initial capture on 30 April.<\/p>\n

Jabareen said Israel\u2019s intention is to deter other activists from helping Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael want to take the two persons and to terrorise them\u00a0in order to terrorise and to put fear and to deter other activists in order to send messages\u00a0to the other activists that you might face this terrible situation. In fact, it seems that Israel\u00a0is happy that we are reporting that they are passing inhuman relation and torture,\u201d Jabareen said.<\/p>\n

He said Thiago and Saif remain in high spirits and steadfast in their mission, despite the physical and psychological abuse they have endured.<\/p>\n

Legal efforts are underway to secure their release, though courts may allow release while still permitting charges, and alternatives such as embassy-supervised house arrest have been proposed instead of jail.<\/p>\n

While the detentions are aimed at deterring future flotilla efforts, Israel may also seek to avoid prolonged international scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Israel want to continue\u00a0with this process, meaning that this process will continue to be in the media,\u00a0international media against Israel, and this is what Israel doesn’t want.\u00a0So also, they have interest to finish and to end this saga,\u201d Jabareen noted.<\/p>\n

He emphasises that increased international pressure could be decisive in securing their release.<\/p>\n

Listen <\/strong>to the full interview<\/a> with Hassen Jabareen on Sabaahul Muslim, presented by Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za 6 May 2026 | 12:28 CAT 3-minute read Two international activists remain detained after being seized in\u00a0international waters nearly 1000 kilometers from Gaza with an Israeli court extending their\u00a0detention by six days amid allegations of isolation and abuse. On 30 April 2026, Israeli naval forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":105715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b331cc7b-34ec-4920-a243-d0882e129137-e1778063310883.jpg?fit=1284%2C1005&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-rv4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-13 17:04:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105714"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105716,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105714\/revisions\/105716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}