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The detained volunteers have been brought before a court in the city of Ramla which has reviewed the detention orders issued against them by the Ministry of Interior, which is treating the twelve crew members as if they had «illegally entered» the country, according to the pro-DHuman Rights Adalah group, in charge of the legal defense of the activists.
In their statements to the judge, the eight crew members of the ‘Madleen’ who have not been deported have stated that they were kidnapped and forcibly taken to Israel against their will, and have emphasized that their “sole mission was to break the blockade of Gaza”, which they have called illegal, “and to deliver humanitarian aid”. The activists, who, according to Israeli law, can be held for 72 hours before being forcibly expelled, have denounced “unsanitary conditions, such as bedbug infestations and lack of access to drinking water”, and one of them, the Brazilian Thiago Ávila, has been on hunger and thirst strike since early Monday. The Adalah group has demanded “their immediate and unconditional release so they can return to their homes”, pending the court’s decision.
