Activist Greta Thunberg Deported After Israel Seized Madleen Aid Ship (image-instagram/eyeonpalestine)

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, along with two other activists and a journalist, was deported from Israel on Tuesday. The 12-crew Madleen Flotilla aid ship was abducted by the Israeli military illegally from international waters on Monday.

In a post on X, the Foreign Ministry had shared a photo of Thunberg on a plane, saying that she had been deported from Israel and is headed to France before continuing to Sweden. According to Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing Thunberg and other activists, Thunberg and the three crew members had agreed to deportation and to leave Israel, while others who refused to be deported are now being held in detention and their case is set to be heard by Israeli authorities.

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The eight crew members who had refused to sign the voluntary departure agreement include French-Palestinian jurist and European Parliament member Rima Hassan, reports Ynetnews.

In the early hours of Monday, the British-flagged ship, carrying an amount of aid, including food and baby formula, was boarded by Israeli forces before it could reach the Gaza shore and was towed to Ashdod Port in Israel.

Israel’s intervention against the Madleen while it was in international waters caused widespread anger globally. Amnesty International condemned the action and stated that it violated “international law.”

Meanwhile, rejecting the claims, Israel defended the seizure as enforcement of its longstanding naval blockade on Gaza, which it says is lawful and essential to national security.

According to Israel’s Interior Ministry, those who had stayed back would face up to 96 hours in custody and a hearing before a judge.

Rights groups, including Amnesty International, called the naval raid a breach of international law, demanding Israel immediately and unconditionally release the activists.

“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.

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Meanwhile, as per The Guardian reports, French President Emmanuel Macron had requested that the six French nationals aboard the boat “be allowed to return to France as soon as possible,” a presidential official said.