Israel to release two detained Gaza flotilla activists

Lawyer representing Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila tells Al Jazeera they will be ‘released to their home countries’.Israel is set to release two Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla activists who were abducted by Israeli authorities, a rights group has said.Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish-Palestinian, and Brazilian Thiago Avila will be freed on Saturday, according to a statement from the rights group Adalah, which was representing the two men.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Gaza aid flotilla activists appear in Israeli court after abductionlist 2 of 4Who are the two Gaza flotilla activists abducted by Israel?list 3 of 4Detained Gaza aid flotilla activists arrive in Netherlandslist 4 of 4Is Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla legal?end of listThe pair will be handed over to immigration authorities and held in custody pending their deportation.Hadeel Abu Salih, the lawyer who co-represented the pair in Israeli courts, told Al Jazeera that they are “expected to be released to their home countries in the coming days”.Adalah said it is “closely monitoring” the situation to ensure the release goes ahead.Abu Keshek and Avila were among dozens of activists who set sail for Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Greece.While the other 168 members of the flotilla were taken to Crete and then released, the two were taken to Israel and detained for further questioning.The vessel was part of a humanitarian effort seeking to reach Gaza with aid amid the ongoing war and Israel’s blockade.Abu Salih said their abduction was a “clear violation of international law”.The lawyer said throughout this ordeal, the legal team “argued that this entire process was a sham proceeding with no legal basis, intended to punish them for attempting to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade”.During their detention, Abu Kushek and Avila were “held in total isolation under punitive conditions despite the purely civilian nature of their mission”, Adalah said.