Italy: Protesters march in Milan against Israeli detention of Gaza flotilla activists.

SHOTLIST: MILAN, ITALY (MAY 4, 2026) 1. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS GATHERING, HOLDING BANNERS AND PALESTINIAN FLAGS, CHANTING SLOGANS AGAINST DETENTION OF THIAGO AVILA AND SAIF ABU KESHEK 2. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING, CHANTING SLOGANS, WAVING PALESTINIAN FLAGS, AND HOLDING BANNERS 3. VARIOUS OF ITALIAN POLICE TAKING SECURITY MEASURESMILAN, ITALY - MAY 4, 2026: Several hundred people marched through the streets of downtown Milan on Monday, May 4, to protest the illegal Israeli detention of Global Sumud Flotilla activists Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek. The march began at Piazza della Scala, with participants carrying Palestinian flags and a banner reading “We Are All Thiago and Saif,” and proceeded through Corso Venezia and the Bastioni. The protest ended at Piazza della Repubblica, near the Spanish consulate and a short distance from the US consulate, where security measures were heightened with armored police vehicles and riot police deployed in the area. Two activists, who were aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, were detained by the Israeli military in international waters off the Greek island of Crete. Abu Keshek and Avila were among 175 activists aboard more than 20 boats raided and intercepted on Thursday while en route to Gaza in an attempt to defy the Israeli siege. The activists were taken to Israel for questioning and possible prosecution, according to a statement from the Global Sumud Flotilla coalition on Sunday. Brazilian Thiago De Avila and Spaniard Saif Abu Keshek, have received death threats while imprisoned in Israel, an Israeli advocacy group for Palestinians said on Monday. Adalah rights center said in a statement that Avila and Abu Keshek are being subjected to ill-treatment, psychological torture, and threats of death or 100-year imprisonment in Israeli prisons. The flotilla's first ships, carrying humanitarian aid, left Barcelona on April 12, while the main fleet set sail from the Italian island of Sicily on April 26, aiming to break Israel's years-long blockade of Gaza. Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, leaving the territory’s 2.4 million people on the verge of starvation. It launched a brutal two-year offensive on Gaza in October 2023, killing more than 72,000 people, injuring over 172,000, and causing massive destruction across the besieged territory.