The decision came after the legal appeals filed by Adalah, the Arab human rights organization in Israel, including attorney Lubna Touma, attorney Hadeel Abu Saleh, and volunteer attorney Afnan Khalifa, were rejected.
Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said in a statement Wednesday that the Ramle Detention Court decided late Tuesday evening to keep eight activists aboard the Madeleine in detention until the deportation order is implemented.
The center noted that the court has scheduled a new detention review session for July 8, 2025, if the deportation is not implemented before that date.
He pointed out that the detained activists are: Shoaib Ordu (Turkey), Mark van Rijns (Netherlands), Pascal Moreiras (France), Riva Fayard (France), Rima Hassan (France), Thiago Ovila (Brazil), Yanis Mohammadi (France), and Yasmin Ajar (Germany).
At dawn on Monday, the Israeli Navy seized the "Madeleine," one of the Freedom Flotilla ships, and arrested 12 activists while they were in international territorial waters, attempting to break the blockade on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the territory.
In the past two days, Israel deported four activists who signed a pledge not to return to Israel again, while the eight refused to sign this pledge.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and displacement, ignoring international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide left approximately 182,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and famine claimed the lives of many, including children.
