JERUSALEM, June 10: Activist Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel on Tuesday, the country’s Foreign Ministry said, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized by the Israeli military.
Thunberg left on a flight to France and was then headed to her home country of Sweden, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on X. It posted a photo of Thunberg, who shuns air travel, seated on a plane.
Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on the Madleen, a ship carrying aid to Gaza that was meant to protest Israel’s ongoing war there and shed light on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the journey.
Israeli naval forces seized the boat without incident early Monday about 200 kilometres off of Gaza’s coast, according to the coalition, which along with rights groups, said Israel’s actions were a violation of international law.
Israel rejects that charge because it says such ships intend to breach what it says is a lawful naval blockade of Gaza.
The boat, accompanied by Israel’s navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod Monday evening, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing the activists, said Thunberg, two other activists and a journalist had agreed to be deported and leave Israel. The other eight activists refused deportation, were being held in detention and their case was set to be heard by Israeli authorities, Adalah said. The activists were expected to be brought before a court later Tuesday, the group added.
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.
Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was also among the volunteers on board. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. It was not immediately 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.
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.”
Amnesty International said Israel was flouting international law with the naval raid and called on Israel to release the activists immediately and unconditionally.
“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.
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. (AP)
