On Tuesday, activist Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel, according to the country’s Foreign Ministry, a day after an Israeli military operation seized the ship she was aboard, which was en route to Gaza.
The Foreign Ministry posted on X, featuring a picture of Thunberg on a flight, stating that she had left Israel and was traveling to France, with plans to eventually proceed to Sweden.
Adalah, a legal rights organization in Israel representing Thunberg and her companions, confirmed that Thunberg, along with two other activists and a journalist, had consented to deportation and opted to exit Israel.
Other activists refused deportation, were being held in detention and their case was set to be heard by Israeli authorities.
Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on board the Madleen, a boat carrying aid destined for people in war-torn Gaza.
Israeli naval forces seized the boat early Monday about 125 miles off of Gaza’s coast, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group that organized the journey.
The boat, accompanied by Israel’s navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod Monday evening, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
The activists said they were protesting the ongoing war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Israel says such ships violate its naval blockade of Gaza.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry portrayed the voyage as a public relations stunt, saying on social media that “the ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel.”
