Israel says it has begun to deport 12 pro-Palestinian activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, whose Gaza-bound aid boat was seized by Israeli forces in the Mediterranean on Monday.
The Israeli foreign ministry said Thunberg departed Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning on a flight to France after she agreed to be deported.
But France said five of the six French activists had refused to sign their deportation orders and would now be brought before an Israeli judicial authority.
Their yacht, the Madleen, was intercepted while they tried to deliver a “symbolic” amount of aid to Gaza in defiance of Israel’s naval blockade to highlight the humanitarian crisis there.
The Israeli foreign ministry dismissed it as a “selfie yacht”, and announced on Monday night that the activists had been transferred to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport following their arrival at the port of Ashdod on Monday night.
“Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority, in accordance with Israeli law, to authorize their deportation,” it said in a post on X.
On Tuesday morning, the ministry said Greta Thunberg had “just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France)”, and posted a photo of her sitting on a plane.
France’s Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, earlier wrote on X: “Our consul was able to see the six French nationals arrested by the Israeli authorities last night.”
“One of them has agreed to leave voluntarily and should return today. The other five will be subject to forced deportation proceedings.”
Barrot did not identify them, but the six French citizens include MEP Rima Hassan and Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad.
As well as France and Sweden, citizens of Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey were on board the Madleen.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the activist group operating the yacht, said in a statement on Monday night that it expected any of the passengers who refused the deportation orders to be transferred to Ramle prison, near Tel Aviv.
“We continue to demand the immediate release of all volunteers and the return of the stolen aid. Their kidnapping is unlawful and a violation of international law,” it added.
The FFC said the Madleen was carrying baby formula, food, medicine.
The boat set sail from Italy on 1 June to raise awareness of starvation conditions in Gaza and deliver aid.
Israel says its blockade on Gaza is necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas fighters there.
On Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would act against any attempt to breach the blockade.
The FFC has argued that the sea blockade is illegal, characterising Katz’s statement as an example of Israel threatening the unlawful use of force against civilians and “attempting to justify that violence with smears”.
In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists when they boarded the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was leading an aid flotilla towards Gaza.
Israel recently began to allow limited aid into Gaza after a three-month land blockade, prioritising distribution through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by Israel and the US but widely condemned by humanitarian groups.
A map showing the journey of the Madleen yacht. It left the Italian city of Catania on 1 June and was intercepted by Israeli forces on 9 June, near the Ashdod port.
In a post on X early on Monday, the Israeli foreign ministry said: “While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity – and which included less than a single truckload of aid – more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza.
“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip – they do not involve Instagram selfies.”
It is 20 months since Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led cross-border attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 54,880 people have been killed in Gaza since, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
