Israel deports Swedish activist after Gaza aid ship seized

The Madleen vessel was boarded by Israeli forces early Monday before it could reach the Gaza shore and was towed to Ashdod Port.

The vessel had 12 foreign activists onboard, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

“Greta Thunberg just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France),” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on its official X account.

Israeli human rights organization Adalah said that some of the activists have agreed to be deported to their home countries.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that four activists will be deported on Tuesday, while the other eight will be transferred to a detention center due to their refusal to sign deportation documents.

Carrying an amount of aid, the British-flagged ship aimed to break a crippling blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza, where nearly 55,000 people have been killed in a brutal onslaught since October 2023.

As Israel has continued to close all Gaza’s border crossings to humanitarian aid since early March, aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among Gaza’s 2.4 million inhabitants.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.