*Urgent Media Alert: Adalah lawyers visit detained GSF activists Thiago and Saif; reports of death threats and threats of prolonged imprisonment. Both activists have entered their sixth day of hunger strike and are detained in isolation.*
4 May 2026
Following a visit just concluded at the Shikma detention facility by Adalah Attorneys Hadeel Abu Salih and Lubna Tuma, Adalah is sounding the alarm over the psychological abuse and ill-treatment of Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) activists Thiago Ávila and Saif Abu Keshek. Both activists have entered their sixth day of a hunger strike (drinking water only) in protest of their unlawful abduction by the Israeli navy in international waters while engaging in a humanitarian mission to challenge the unlawful blockade on Gaza.
Thiago Ávila reported being subjected to repeated interrogations lasting up to eight hours. Interrogators have explicitly threatened him, stating he would either be “killed” or “spend 100 years in jail.” Both activists are being held in total isolation. Their cells are kept under constant high-intensity lighting 24 hours a day, a known Israeli Prison Service (IPS) practice specifically designed to induce sleep deprivation and sensory disorientation. Additionally, Thiago reported being held in extremely cold temperatures. They are kept blindfolded at all times whenever they are moved outside their cells, including during medical examinations. Adalah emphasizes that blindfolding a patient during a doctor’s visit is a gross violation of medical ethical standards.
Much of the interrogation has focused on the Global Sumud Flotilla , a peaceful humanitarian mission, which confirms that the detention is an attempt to criminalize humanitarian aid and solidarity.
Adalah lawyers are waiting to understand whether the state will file an extension-of-detention request tomorrow. Adalah continues to demand their immediate, unconditional release and an end to these illegal proceedings.
