Zionist Israel Deports Swedish Activist After Gaza-Bound Aid Boat Intercepted

(MENAFN- Nam News Network) JERUSALEM, Jun 11 (NNN-XINHUA) – The Zionist Israeli regime, deported Swedish climate campaigner, Greta Thunberg, yesterday, a day after she and 11 other activists were detained by the Zionist Israeli forces, while attempting to breach the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, aboard a humanitarian aid boat.

“Greta Thunberg just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France),” the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote on social media platform X. The ministry released two photos of her, one boarding the plane with her hands behind her back and another seated inside.

The regime broadcaster, Kan, reported that, Thunberg, 22, and other activists were taken to Ben Gurion Airport for deportation. According to the report, Thunberg was seated“in a back seat without the ability to recline.”

Israeli ruthless Interior Minister, Moshe Arbel, confirmed, several activists were taken to the airport for deportation, and said, he had“instructed that all 12 participants in the flotilla be returned to their countries of origin.”

“The regime will not allow its sovereignty to be harmed through protest flotilla provocations, at its borders,” Arbel said in a statement.

The Foreign Ministry said, the activists who“agreed to sign documents, stating they 'voluntarily agree' to leave the regime” were expected to leave the country by flights. Those who refused would be brought before a judicial authority, to authorise their deportation.

Consular officials from the activists' home countries met them at the airport, the ministry said.

Adalah, an Israel-based legal rights group, representing the activists, said, four agreed to immediate repatriation, while the remaining eight are contesting their deportation orders. They would be held in a detention centre, pending a court hearing. The timing of the hearing was not immediately clear.

According to Adalah, after the Zionist Israeli forces seized the boat, Madleen, early on Monday, those on board were held at sea for hours, before being brought to Ashdod port after nightfall.

The Israeli regime intercepted the charity vessel in international waters, and escorted it to Ashdod, the largest port in the regime, a move the Freedom Flotilla Coalition described as illegal, and called it a“kidnapping.” The vessel was carrying humanitarian supplies, including food and medicine, intended for the starving Gazans.

The incident came about a month after another flotilla vessel, Conscience, was damaged in a Zionist drone strike in international waters, near Malta.

The Israeli regime imposed a naval blockade on Gaza in 2007, after Hamas took control of the enclave. Restrictions were further tightened in Oct, 2023.

The genocidal Israeli offensive has devastated Gaza's infrastructure and pushed its more than two million residents, into a deep humanitarian crisis. UN agencies warn of an impending famine, with the entire population facing acute food insecurity.– NNN-XINHUA

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