Israel deports activist Greta Thunberg after military seized Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship

Jerusalem — Israel deported activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday, the country’s Foreign Ministry said, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on with 11 other people was seized by the Israeli military. Thunberg left on a flight to France and was then headed to her home country of Sweden, the Foreign Ministry said in a post on X. It posted a photo of Thunberg, a climate activist who shuns air travel, seated on a plane.

Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on the Madleen, a ship carrying aid to Gaza with a mission to protest Israel’s ongoing war there and shed light on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory, according to the organizers, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

Israeli naval forces seized the boat without incident early Monday about 125 miles off of Gaza’s coast, according to the coalition, which, along with rights groups, condemned Israel’s actions as a violation of international law. Israel rejects that charge because it says such ships intend to breach what it argues is its military’s lawful naval blockade of Gaza.

The boat, accompanied by Israel’s navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod Monday evening, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said three activists, including Thunberg, had been deported along with a journalist. It said it had encouraged some of the group to do this so they could speak freely about their experiences.

Eight other passengers refused deportation and were being held in detention before their case is to be heard by Israeli authorities. Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing the activists, said the eight were expected to be brought before a court later Tuesday.

“Their detention is unlawful, politically motivated and a direct violation of international law,” the coalition said in a statement. It called for the remaining passengers to be released without deportation and said their lawyers would demand that they be allowed to complete their journey to Gaza.

Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel’s Interior Ministry, said the activists who were being deported Tuesday had waived their right to appear before a judge. Those who did not will face one and will be held for 96 hours before being deported, she said.

Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was also among the passengers on board the Madleen. She has previously been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. It was not clear whether she was being immediately deported or detained.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tuesday that one of the detained French activists signed an expulsion order and will leave Israel on Tuesday for France. The other five refused. He said all the activists received consular visits.

Sergio Toribio, a Spanish activist who was deported, slammed Israel’s actions after he arrived in Barcelona. 

“It is unforgivable, it is a violation of our rights. It is a pirate attack in international waters,” Toribio told reporters.

On Monday, Adalah, the rights group, said that Israel had “no legal authority” to take over the ship, because the group said it was in international waters and it was headed not to Israel but to the “territorial waters of the state of Palestine.”

“The arrest of the unarmed activists, who operated in a civilian manner to provide humanitarian aid, amounts to a serious breach of international law,” Adalah said in a statement.

Amnesty International said Israel was flouting international law with the naval raid and called on the country to release the activists immediately and unconditionally.

Israel said its actions were consistent with international law.

Israel viewed the ship as a publicity stunt, calling it the “selfie yacht.” Israeli officials said that the flotilla was bringing “meager” aid with what amounted to less than a truckload of goods.

The Flotilla has made it clear that its repeated attempts to reach the Palestinian territory by sea with vessels carrying aid and activists are aimed as much at raising awareness of the Israeli blockade as they are about getting any food into the enclave.

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of a blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s Palestinian population.

During the 20-month-long war in Gaza sparked by the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, Israel has restricted and sometimes blocked all aid into the territory, including food, fuel and medicine. Experts say that policy has pushed Gaza toward famine. Israel says Hamas siphons off the aid to bolster its rule.

The Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel, and saw 251 others taken hostage into Gaza, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, but only about 20 are still believed to be alive.

Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said that women and children make up most of the dead.

The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory’s population, with many people being forced to flee multiple times. The entire population is almost completely dependent on international aid.