Flotilla activist returns to Barcelona and vows legal action against Israel

Global Sumud Flotilla activist Saif Abukeshek plans legal action against Israel over alleged human rights violations during his detention after the Gaza-bound flotilla was intercepted.

"Israel violated every right from the moment we were intercepted until we were released. We were not even brought before a judge," Abukeshek told Spanish public brocaster RTVE in an interview on Monday.

Abukeshek, who arrived at Barcelona Airport on Sunday evening, said he plans to travel to Turkey on Tuesday to return to the flotilla.

He said he was subjected to hours-long interrogations at the detention centre involving "insults and threats."

"They told me they would leave me there for years and that I would never see my mother again. They would wake me up at all hours and take me away blindfolded," he said.

Abukeshek said he began a hunger strike, progressively refusing food, water and speech.

The activist said he had lost 15 kilograms after spending 12 days without eating and six without drinking.

"The mobilisations at sea are just one element among the many actions taking place. We have to keep fighting in the streets," he added, urging people to take part in a demonstration scheduled for the weekend in Barcelona.

Deportation 

Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed in a post on X on Sunday that it had deported flotilla activists Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila.

The ministry said Israel "will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza."

Abukeshek, who is Catalan-Palestinian, and Brazilian activist Ávila were transferred to an immigration detention centre before their expulsion from Israel was carried out.

The Global Sumud Flotilla described their release on Saturday as "a victory for popular mobilisation and sustained pressure around the world."

Amnesty International welcomed the release of Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila, calling it "encouraging news for human rights" and an exception to what it described as Israel's policy of "arbitrary detention."

"It partly repairs the injustice of their arrest by the Israeli authorities," said Esteban Beltrán, director of Amnesty International Spain.