Thiago Ávila, who took part in a flotilla to the Gaza Strip, arrives for a remand hearing at the Magistrate’s Court in Ashkelon, southern Israel, after being arrested on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization, May 3, 2026. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
Flotilla leaders Thiago Ávila and Saif Abu Keshek were deported without facing criminal charges.
By World Israel News Staff
Two foreign nationals, affiliated with a Hamas-linked organization who attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza as part of a protest flotilla, were deported to their countries of origin.
They were released without facing criminal charges, after spending more than a week in Israeli custody.
Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila and Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish citizen of Palestinian descent, were among the most prominent leaders of the Sumud flotilla.
Ávila and Abu Keshek are affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), which the Israeli government has described as effectively serving as a front organization for Hamas. The PCPA is sanctioned by both Israel and the United States.
The flotilla consisted of roughly 100 boats carrying approximately 1,000 activists. The effort was also marred by reports of sexual assault and misconduct aboard some of the vessels.
The pair were detained by Israeli naval commandos as their boats traveled through international waters in the Mediterranean Sea near Greece on April 29.
Organizers of the flotilla claimed they were sailing to Gaza to transport aid to civilians and assist with the humanitarian crisis there. However, Israeli security personnel who boarded the vessels posted footage on social media showing condoms and recreational drugs found aboard the ships, saying there was no humanitarian aid on the boats.
Ávila and Abu Keshek were brought to Israel following their arrest and held in custody for more than a week.
“After their investigation was completed, the two professional provocateurs, Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ávila, from the provocation flotilla, were deported today from Israel,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote on X.
“Israel will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza,” the ministry added.
Adalah, an Arab Israeli legal aid group that has represented terror suspects in the past, claimed that Ávila and Abu Keshek were on a hunger strike and argued that their detention was unlawful.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares summoned Israel’s envoy to Spain over Abu Keshek’s detention.
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