Spain’s foreign minister on Saturday demanded the immediate release of a Spanish-Swedish activist detained by Israel after an aid flotilla bound for Gaza was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters, setting off renewed strain between Madrid and Jerusalem. José Manuel Albares said the detention took place in international waters, outside what he described as Israel’s jurisdiction, and he told his Israeli counterpart that Spain would press the case.
The activists detained included Saif Abukeshek, described by the report as a dual Spanish-Swedish citizen of Palestinian origin, and Thiago Ávila, the Brazilian man also detained for questioning in Israel on Saturday. The legal aid group cited in the report said the two men launched a hunger strike after being taken into custody.
Albares made his comments in an interview with public radio, saying it was “a case of illegal detention in international waters, outside the jurisdiction of Israeli authorities,” and that he had made that position clear to Israel. The report also said dozens of other activists were picked up by the Greek coast guard after the Israeli action and taken to the island of Crete.
An Israel-based legal advocacy group, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, known as Adalah, said it visited the two men at a detention site in the Israeli port city of Ashkelon. The group reported that both men told it they had begun a hunger strike, and it also said they alleged repeated beatings while in custody.
Adalah said it “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,” according to the report. The allegation adds to the diplomatic friction, with Spain already critical of the war in Gaza and having formally recognized Palestinian statehood in 2024, according to the report.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry, in an online post cited by the report, said Abukeshek and Ávila were being questioned for possible links to Hamas. The ministry said the men had been granted consular visits.
The detention further strained relations at a time of heightened political rhetoric between the two governments. On Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez criticized Benjamin Netanyahu while speaking at a campaign event for upcoming regional elections in southern Spain, saying Netanyahu had taken foreign citizens—including a Spanish national—into custody in Israel.
Sánchez said, according to the report: “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.” He then added: “First, Spain will always protect its citizens. Second, we will always uphold international law — and this is yet another violation of it.” He also demanded “the release of the Spanish citizen who has been illegally detained by the Netanyahu government.”