This activist spent 4 gruelling days in Israeli custody, but says he'll try again to bring aid to Gaza

Yasmine Hassan · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 21, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

After 4 days successful Israeli detention, Thiago Avila was relieved to beryllium backmost successful Brazil. He'd been taken into custody, on with 11 others, and spent 2 days successful solitary confinement, aft they'd tried to bring humanitarian assistance into Gaza by sea. Their vessel, the Madleen, was intercepted starring to what helium describes arsenic a gruelling enactment marked by inhumane attraction and a little hunger strike.

And yet, helium told CBC News from Sao Paulo, helium chose to beryllium detained alternatively than motion documents admitting to what helium considered a mendacious accusation — that they had tried to participate Israel illegally. 

Some 20 hours aft the vas was intercepted, Avila, 37, says they were taken to enactment and crammed into tiny constabulary vehicles. He says they had not been fixed entree to a bath and that 1 unit subordinate urinated successful the constabulary car. 

"It was a precise degrading [situation]," helium said. 

Israeli constabulary did not respond to a petition for remark connected Avila's clip successful jail.

They were taken to an immigration facility, helium says, wherever erstwhile officers of the Israel Defence Forces demanded helium and the others — noted clime activistic was Greta Thunberg among them — watch videos of the Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught by Hamas against Israel, which sparked the latter's warfare successful Gaza, and a humanitarian situation therein.

He says they refused — unless the serviceman they were speaking to would ticker videos of what is taking spot successful Gaza. 

"I said 'If you don't ticker the video of the genocide that you're committing, we don't privation to ticker the video that you are utilizing to manufacture consent for your genocide,'" helium said. 

The authoritative refused, and the unit were not made to presumption the videos.

He says helium was asked, again, by an migration agent, to motion documents that said he'd entered Israel illegally. He would person been deported and banned from the state for 100 years if helium signed. He again refused. Avila says the vessel was successful planetary waters erstwhile it was intercepted.

But the radical agreed that immoderate of them should motion truthful they could spell retired and archer the Madleen's story. 

"We didn't privation to person nary different dependable telling the information astir what happened," helium said. 

Four signed and were freed.

The others were taken to Israel's Givon Prison and placed successful abstracted cells. Avila says the conditions were unspeakable — small to nary entree to water, which was darkly coloured; bed bugs that helium says led to Scabies; and intelligence torment by slumber depravation.

"They would travel each hr oregon truthful conscionable to marque noise, marque everyone get up [and] not beryllium capable to sleep," helium said.

Avila says helium was singled retired for solitary confinement due to the fact that helium was 1 of the organizers of the ngo and due to the fact that he'd gone connected a hunger and thirst strike.

He says officers told him that he'd beryllium disciplined and offered him nutrient connected aggregate occasions — bread, hummus and rice. 

Avila says helium told them: "Since you're... denying nutrient to much than two million radical successful Gaza, however tin I judge your nutrient and water?"  

For months now, assistance has each but trickled into Gaza since the ceasefire betwixt Israel and Hamas was breached successful March. But the enclave has been blockaded for years, inspiring missions similar the Madleen's bring assistance to Gaza. Since 2008, only 5 boats person been capable to marque it the portion and sail backmost successfully. 

Avila says his solitary compartment was was infested with rats and cockroaches. He says officers became much convulsive with him, pushing him astir and threatening to instrumentality him to Gaza and enactment him successful the notorious Sde Teiman jail. 

And yet, connected June 12, Avila was released and enactment connected a formation backmost to Brazil, to reunite with his woman and daughter.

He says he's already signed up for the adjacent ngo to Gaza. 

Before leaving, helium told an Israeli authoritative that they would spot each different again "very soon." 

"We proceed to person caller missions and volition not halt until Palestine is free."