Spain summoned Israel’s top envoy in Madrid to protest the “unacceptable and intolerable” detention of a Spanish activist from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the foreign minister said Thursday.

The countries’ latest diplomatic clash came after an Israeli court extended until Sunday the detention of Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, as well as another activist, Brazilian Thiago Avila, snubbing international demands for their release.

Israel has accused both men of being affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a group accused by Washington of “clandestinely acting on behalf of” Palestinian terror group Hamas.

On Wednesday, “we again summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires to convey to her how unacceptable and intolerable it is to extend the detention of our citizen,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told parliament.

The Global Sumud Flotilla was the second initiative in a year aiming to break an Israeli naval blockade on war-ravaged Gaza, which rights groups say has suffered shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza, though Israel has touted increased aid.

The flotilla’s vessels with 170 activists had set sail from France, Spain and Italy, and were intercepted off the coast of Crete, hundreds of nautical miles (over 1,000........

© The Times of Israel