Israel deports Greta Thunberg after intercepting Gaza activists' aid boat

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Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg has been deported, Israel said on Tuesday, after authorities detained her and other activists on board a boat attempting to take aid to Gaza.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a photo on X showing Ms Thunberg on a flight to Sweden via France. She and 11 fellow activists were apprehended on Monday by Israeli forces in international waters and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Three other people who had been aboard the charity vessel Madleen also agreed to immediate repatriation. Eight other crew members are contesting their deportation order, said Adalah, a legal rights group representing the activists. They will be held in a detention centre ahead of a court hearing.

The activists had left Italy on June 1 on board the Madleen, saying they would break the Israeli siege on Gaza and deliver supplies. Israeli authorities described their mission as a celebrity stunt.

"The passengers of the 'Selfie Yacht' arrived at Ben Gurion Airport to depart from Israel and return to their home countries," the Israeli Foreign Ministry earlier said on X. "Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority."

The ministry added that consuls from the activists' home countries had met them at the airport.

Organisers of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition had earlier put out a statement saying the crew were being "processed and transferred into the custody of Israeli authorities" after the boat was stopped.

It said they were expected to be moved to the Ramleh detention facility unless they agreed to leave immediately.

Adalah said the boat was intercepted in international waters, where Israel has no legal jurisdiction.

Many of the crew are French. President Emmanuel Macron had called for the repatriation of the French citizens.

"Most of all, France calls for a ceasefire as quickly as possible and the lifting of the humanitarian blockade. This is a scandal, unacceptable, that is playing out in Gaza. What’s been happening since early March is a disgrace, a disgrace," Mr Macron said.

Israel has faced mounting international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the UN has warned the entire population faces famine. Israel imposed an aid blockade on the besieged enclave on March 2 and has only relaxed it in recent days.

The Madleen yacht was carrying a small amount of humanitarian aid, including rice, baby formula and medical supplies, in a symbolic voyage in protest at the blockade. Crew members said they were unarmed civilians who posed no threat.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said: "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."

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had ordered the military on Sunday to prevent the vessel from reaching Gaza, calling the mission a propaganda effort in support of Hamas.

A previous yacht, Conscience, attempted the same voyage in May but was halted by a drone strike that organisers blamed on Israel.

As well as Ms Thunberg, the Madleen's crew included French politician Rima Hassan, who is of Palestinian descent, and volunteers from Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Brazil and Turkey.

Mr Katz said he had instructed the military to show the activists videos from the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel carried out by Hamas. "It is appropriate that the anti-Semitic Greta and her fellow Hamas supporters see exactly who the Hamas terrorist organisation is they came to support and for whom they are working," he said.

However, Mr Katz said the activists had refused to watch the footage.

Separately, hundreds of people on Monday launched a land convoy to Gaza from Tunisia, which aims to "break the siege" on the territory.

Organisers said the nine-bus convoy was not taking aid into Gaza but aimed to carry out a "symbolic act" in support of the enclave. The Soumoud convoy, meaning "steadfastness" in Arabic, includes doctors and intends to arrive in Rafah, southern Gaza, by the end of the week.

It is set to pass through Libya and Egypt, although Cairo has yet to provide passage permits.

Twenty months into the Gaza war, negotiations over a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked. A brief truce collapsed in March and Israel has since intensified operations to “destroy” the Palestinian group.