Activists’ detention deepens Spain-Israel tensions as aid group says men have begun hunger strike

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This grab from black and white CCTV footage shows members on flotilla boat with hands in air as Israeli forces intercepted activists who set sail earlier this month from Barcelona attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza, near the southern Greek island of Crete, early Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Global Sumud Flotilla via AP)

Saif Abukeshek, a Palestinian-Spanish activist and member of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s steering committee, left, and Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian activist and member of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s steering committee, aboard the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise, which joined a Gaza-bound flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea on April 18, 2026. (Max Cavallari/Greenpeace via AP) — This grab from black and white CCTV footage shows members on flotilla boat with hands in air as Israeli forces intercepted activists who set sail earlier this month from Barcelona attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza, near the southern Greek island of Crete, early Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Global Sumud Flotilla via AP)

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1:12 PM on Saturday, May 2

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and IBRAHIM HAZBOUN

SOLARES, Spain (AP) — Spain’s foreign minister on Saturday called for the immediate release of an activist detained by Israel after an aid flotilla bound for Gaza was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters.

Saif Abukeshek, a dual Spanish-Swedish citizen of Palestinian origin, was detained for questioning in Israel on Saturday along with Thiago Ávila of Brazil. A legal aid group said both men had launched a hunger strike.

Dozens of other activists were picked up by the Greek coast guard following the Israeli action and taken to the island of Crete.

“This is a case of illegal detention in international waters, outside the jurisdiction of Israeli authorities. I have made this clear to my Israeli counterpart,” José Manuel Albares said in an interview with public radio.

An Israel-based legal advocacy group, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, said it had visited the two men at a detention site in the Israeli port city of Ashkelon. It said both reported being on a hunger strike after allegedly being repeatedly beaten while in custody.

“Adalah maintains that the treatment of the two activists, including the use of isolation, prolonged blindfolding and physical beatings, constitutes a grave violation of international law,” the group said.

In an online post, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Abukeshek and Ávila were being questioned for possible links to the armed group Hamas. It said the two men had been granted consular visits.

Abukeshek’s detention has further strained relations between Israel and Spain, which has been an outspoken critic of the war in Gaza and formally recognized Palestinian statehood in 2024.

On Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took aim at his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, while speaking at a campaign event for upcoming regional elections in southern Spain.

“Now that Netanyahu has taken foreign citizens, including a Spanish national, and brought them to Israel, I have a few things to say to Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Sánchez said to applause from supporters of his Socialist party.

“First, Spain will always protect its citizens. Second, we will always uphold international law — and this is yet another violation of it,” he said. “And third, we demand the release of the Spanish citizen who has been illegally detained by the Netanyahu government.”

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Hazboun reported from Jerusalem. Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain contributed.