US sanctions Spaniard Saif Abukeshek and other members of the Flotilla accused of supporting Hamas

Eduardo González The US Treasury Department has imposed economic sanctions on four members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, including the Hispanic-Palestinian activist Saif Abukeshek, for attempting to “access Gaza in support of Hamas” and for “undermining” President Donald Trump's initiatives “toward a lasting peace in the region.” Specifically, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Tuesday the adoption of measures against “four individuals linked to the pro-Hamas flotilla organized by the US-designated Popular Conference of Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), which is attempting to access Gaza in support of Hamas.” “The pro-terrorist flotilla attempting to reach Gaza is a senseless attempt to undermine President Trump’s progress toward lasting peace in the region,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “The Treasury will continue to cut off Hamas’s global financial support networks, no matter where in the world they are located,” he added. “Sanctioned terrorist groups continue to exert significant influence over maritime flotillas bound for Gaza,” he asserted. Among those sanctioned is “Saif Hashim Kamel Abukeshek,” who is described as “a member of the General Secretariat of the PCPA based in Jordan” and “a central figure in the so-called humanitarian flotilla that recently headed to Gaza, where he served as a member of the Steering Committee.” The sanctions entail the blocking of all property and interests in property of these individuals that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, and the prohibition of any transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting through) the United States involving property or interests in property of the sanctioned individuals. Saif Abukeshek was part of a flotilla of between 70 and 80 vessels with 300 people on board, about 50 of them Spanish, which was intercepted by Israeli forces on April 29 while en route to Gaza with humanitarian aid. The raid took place west of the island of Crete, in international waters, more than 600 nautical miles from the coast of Israel. Despite the release of most of the Spanish crew members, Israeli authorities decided to transfer two members of the Flotilla, Saif Abukeshek and the Brazilian Thiago Ávila, back to their country. A week later, on May 7, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced before the full session of Congress that he had summoned the Chargé d'Affaires of the Israeli Embassy in Madrid, Dana Erlich, to convey his protest against the “inadmissible and unacceptable” decision by an Israeli court to extend Abukeshek's detention by six days. During their detention, Abukeshek and Ávila were never formally charged and remained imprisoned without charges at the request of the intelligence services to investigate their role in the Flotilla. Israel accused them of five serious crimes: aiding the enemy in times of war, membership in a terrorist organization, aiding a terrorist organization, transferring assets to a terrorist organization, and contact with a foreign agent. Finally, the two activists were released on May 9, and the Spaniard arrived in Barcelona the following day. 33 people with “Spanish passports” Meanwhile, the organizers of the humanitarian flotilla, which was intercepted again this Monday by Israel near Cyprus, have put the number of activists detained in this second operation at over 400. These activists were put on a “prison” ship and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod. According to the Global Sumud Flotilla, as reported by the Europa Press news agency, among those detained are 33 people “with Spanish passports.” This Monday, Albares again summoned the Israeli chargé d'affaires in Madrid to convey his “formal and strong protest” regarding the new raid on the Global Sumud Flotilla in southwest Cyprus and to demand that Benjamin Netanyahu's government “immediately cease any action that could endanger the Spanish citizens traveling on these vessels.” The minister also specified that the flotilla “would be composed of fifty-four vessels” and “around five hundred activists of forty-five nationalities.” “I don’t have the exact number of Spaniards, which would be around forty-five, but I insist, we haven’t fully verified that yet,” he continued. “Between one and two dozen of them, according to the information I have, are already being held by Israeli forces at this time,” he added.

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