Two organizers of the recent Gaza flotilla have been deported, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday morning.
“After their investigation was completed, the two professional provocateurs, Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ávila, from the provocation flotilla, were deported today from Israel. Israel will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza,” the ministry tweeted.
The convoy, known as the Global Sumud (“steadfastness”) Flotilla, consisted of more than 50 boats carrying around 1,000 participants. The convoy was stopped west of the island of Crete. Except for Abu Keshek and Ávila, all the participants were taken to Greece or turned away on their own.
Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian descent, and Ávila, a Brazilian national, were key organizers of the convoy. Israeli authorities were investigating the flotilla’s ties to Hamas.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz placed sanctions on a crowdfunding campaign connected to the flotilla in April, alleging the operation was linked to Hamas and accusing organizers of using humanitarian claims as cover.
Documents found in Gaza and released in September by Israel’s Foreign Ministry traced direct Hamas involvement in organizing and financing the flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of the Strip.
Israel and Egypt have maintained restrictions on Gaza to prevent weapons smuggling since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. Since then, Palestinian activists have periodically launched flotillas to challenge the blockade. In 2011, an independent U.N. inquiry into the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident criticized Israeli forces for using excessive force but upheld the blockade’s legality.
