Greta Thunberg deported from Israel after Gaza boat seized

JERUSALEM - Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel on June 10, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said, the day after the Israeli navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza.

Ms Thunberg, 22, was put on a flight to France, the ministry said, adding that she would travel on to Sweden from there.

Three other people who had been aboard the charity vessel also agreed to immediate repatriation. Eight other crew members are contesting their deportation order, Israeli rights group Adalah, which advised them, said in a statement.

They will be held in a detention centre ahead of a court hearing. It was not immediately clear when that would happen.

Israeli forces boarded the charity vessel as it

neared Gaza early on June 9

, trying to break through a years-old naval blockade of the coastal enclave, which has gained international attention since Israel also cut off land access to the strip in March. Israel now allows in only limited supplies of food distributed by a group it backs.

The British-flagged yacht was taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod and the 12-strong crew were transferred overnight to Ben Gurion airport.

The activists had been carrying a small cargo of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula, and said they wanted to raise international awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has been devastated by months of war.

Israel dismissed the voyage as a pro-Hamas publicity stunt.

“The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Israel released an image of Ms Thunberg sitting on a plane ahead of its departure for Paris. She usually refuses to fly because of the carbon emissions of the airline industry.

Organisers released a video of Ms Thunberg on June 9, filmed on board the vessel before it was captured, in which she said that if it were taken that would mean Israel had kidnapped her and the rest of the crew in international waters.

“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible,” she said in a video that was recorded ahead of the Israeli navy action.

US President Donald Trump dismissed Ms Thunberg’s claim of being kidnapped.

“I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg,” he said.

“She’s a young, angry person... I think she has to go to an anger management class.”

Israel has imposed a naval blockade on the coastal enclave since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, saying it aims to stop weapons from reaching Hamas.

The blockade has remained in place through conflicts including the war, which began when Hamas-led militants

rampaged through southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023

, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, by Israeli tallies.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Hamas-run Gaza, and destroyed most of the homes of its 2.3 million residents.

In March, Israel imposed a total blockade of all supplies reaching Gaza, which the United Nations says has driven the population to the brink of famine. Over the past two weeks, Israel has allowed in limited food supplies to be distributed by a new Israeli-backed group, a step Israel says is necessary to prevent Hamas from diverting aid. REUTERS