Brazilian activist Thiago Avila has launched a hunger and water strike after being detained aboard the Gaza-bound aid ship Madleen, the Israeli human rights group Adalah said Tuesday.
Israeli forces intercepted the vessel in international waters early Monday, detaining 12 activists from Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Turkey. The group was attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel’s blockade.
Four activists, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, were deported Tuesday. The remaining eight, who refused to sign deportation orders, are being held at Givon Prison in Ramla.
The eight appeared before a Ramla detention court Tuesday to face deportation orders issued by Israel’s Interior Ministry, according to Adalah.
Adalah’s legal team – attorneys Hadeel Abu Saleh, Lubna Toma and volunteer lawyer Afnan Khalifa – argued during the five-hour hearing that Israel’s interception of the Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, violated international law.
The coalition seeks to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
The team said the activists were forcibly taken from international waters to Israel and labeled “illegal infiltrators” without legal basis.
The lawyers described the blockade as unlawful collective punishment aimed at starving civilians and violating interim measures ordered by the International Court of Justice in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. They said the activists acted within their legal rights to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, where famine risks persist.
The legal team called for the activists’ immediate, unconditional release and demanded they be returned to the Madleen to complete their mission before heading home.
They argued Israel lacked jurisdiction since the ship was intercepted in international waters, rendering the detentions and deportation orders unlawful.
According to Adalah, the detained activists said they were “kidnapped” and forcibly brought to Israel, stressing their sole intent was to break the Israeli blockade and deliver aid to Gaza.
They also reported unsanitary conditions in detention, including bedbugs and undrinkable tap water.
Israeli authorities asked the court to keep the activists in custody under Israel’s Entry Law, which allows for detention of up to 72 hours for those who refuse to leave voluntarily.
Adalah reiterated its call for the activists’ immediate release and return to their home countries. A court decision is expected soon.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, launched in October 2023 following the Hamas-led incursion, has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. Most of the victims are reported to be women and children.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its military operations in Gaza.
