Israel has deported Greta Thunberg after seizing the Gaza-bound ship that she and her fellow anti-Israel activists used in their attempt to violate the Jewish state’s naval blockade.
“Greta Thunberg just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France),” Israel’s foreign ministry said on its official X account Tuesday. The foreign ministry posted two pictures of the 22-year old on board a plane.
Upon arrival at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Thunberg accused Israel of attacking and kidnapping her and her fellow activists and called for the release of the other activists.
Thunberg called on supporters to ask their governments “to demand not only humanitarian aid being let into Gaza but most importantly an end to the occupation and an end to the systemic oppression and violence that Palestinians are facing on an everyday basis.”
Thunberg was one of 12 activists aboard the Madleen. The crew refused to comply with Israeli directives to deliver the aid they were carrying to the proper port in Israel, insisting instead on sailing directly to Gaza as part of an anti-Israel propaganda campaign. The Israeli military seized the ship Monday off the coast of Gaza, and the activists aboard were detained and brought to the port of Ashdod for attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade.
The ship, organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departed for Gaza last week from Catania, Sicily, carrying humanitarian aid. Celebrity activists aboard the ship included European Parliament member Rima Hassan, German activist Yasmin Achar, Irish actor Liam Cunningham, and Thunberg.
Four of the 12 on board are expected to be deported Tuesday after voluntarily agreeing to leave Israel.
“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,” the Israel Foreign Ministry said on X.
The eight activists who refused to leave will be transferred to Givon detention facility before their case is to be heard by Israeli authorities.
After taking the activists into custody on Monday, Israeli authorities screened footage of Hamas’s October 7 atrocities in an attempt to educate Thunberg and her group about the threat Israel faces and the importance of eliminating Hamas.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the activists refused to watch the footage.
“These antisemitic flotilla activists closed their eyes to the truth and once again proved they prefer the murderers over the victims,” Katz said. “They continue to ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas against Jewish and Israeli women, the elderly, and children.”
Thunberg won fame for her demonstrations as a climate activist in previous years, protesting in a number of countries against companies polluting the planet. Time magazine named her Person of the Year in 2019 for her advocacy. Since the October 7 terrorist attacks, however, Thunberg has dropped her climate activism and redirected her efforts toward demonstrating against Israel and campaigning to “Free Palestine.”