Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, one of the main organizers of the international aid flotilla to Gaza, said Thursday that the movement to get life-saving relief to the devastated Palestinian enclave would continue, after a ceasefire was announced between Israel and Hamas.
“There is nothing in the ceasefire agreements to indicate that the illegal blockade of Gaza by Israel, the United States, or any other nation will end,” he told reporters upon his return to Brazil.
“As long as there is no justice for the Palestinian people, the flotilla will continue.”
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Avila was one of 13 Brazilians aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla of 45 vessels intercepted by Israel last week.
Israel detained and deported more than 470 people aboard the boats, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
Israel has blocked several international aid flotillas in recent months from reaching Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has set in after two years of a devastating Israeli military offensive.
Israel enforces a blockade on the territory, and has slashed the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into the enclave while the war has raged.
Several activists on board the flotilla reported mistreatment in detention, which Israel denied.
“Obviously, there were violations that will be the subject of complaints in international courts, but they are nothing compared to what the Palestinians are suffering,” said Avila.
He reported cases of “physical violence” and “forced interrogations” of activists.
“Diabetics have gone three days without access to insulin,” he said.
Israel and Hamas on Thursday agreed a ceasefire deal after more than two years of war sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has reduced much of Gaza to rubble — including schools, hospitals and basic infrastructure — and killed at least 67,194 people, according to the territory’s health ministry.
