Israel deports Greta Thunberg after seizing Gaza-bound ship
Ms Thunberg left on a flight to France before heading to her home country of Sweden, the foreign ministry posted on X.
It added a photo of Thunberg, a climate activist who shuns air travel, seated on a plane.
Speaking upon arrival at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport, Ms Thunberg called for the release of the other activists who were detained aboard the Freedom Flotilla.
She described a 'quite chaotic and uncertain' situation during the detention.
The activist added the conditions they faced 'are absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now'.
Greta Thunberg just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France). pic.twitter.com/kWrI9KVoqX
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 10, 2025
'We were well aware of the risks of this mission,' Ms Thunberg added.
'The aim was to get to Gaza and to be able to distribute the aid.'
She said the activists would continue trying to get aid to Gaza.
Ms Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on the Madleen, a ship carrying aid to Gaza that was meant to protest against Israel's ongoing war there and shed light on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the journey.
Israeli naval forces seized the boat without incident early on Monday about 125 miles off of Gaza's coast, according to the coalition, which along with rights groups, said Israel's actions were a violation of international law.
Israel rejects that charge because it says such ships intend to breach what it argues is a lawful naval blockade of Gaza.
The boat, accompanied by Israel's navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod on Monday evening, according to the foreign ministry.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said three activists, including Ms Thunberg, had been deported along with a journalist. It said it had encouraged some of the group to do this so they could speak freely about their experiences.
Eight other passengers refused deportation and were being held in detention before their case is to be heard by Israeli authorities. Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing the activists, said the eight were expected to be brought before a court later on Tuesday.
'Their detention is unlawful, politically motivated and a direct violation of international law,' the coalition said in a statement. It called for the remaining passengers to be released without deportation and said their lawyers would demand that they be allowed to complete their journey to Gaza.
Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel's interior ministry, said the activists who were being deported Tuesday had waived their right to appear before a judge. Those who did not will face one and will be held for 96 hours before being deported, she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE How Greta Thunberg relishes being 'the poster girl for rebellious teenagers': JUDI JAMES reveals how she uses all the tricks of a political pro
Environment activist Greta Thunberg is projecting 'power and authority' by taking control of the narrative when she speaks, a body language expert said today. Judi James told MailOnline that the campaigner projects the 'image of a heroine' and her confidence on the global stage 'would match or even exceed seasoned leaders'. The activist was deported by Israel yesterday, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized by the Israeli military. She has now returned to Sweden. Of the 12 activists on board the Madleen, which was carrying food and supplies for Gaza, four including 22-year-old Ms Thunberg agreed to be deported immediately. Ms Thunberg has now called for the release of the other activists who were detained aboard the Madleen, and described a 'quite chaotic and uncertain' situation. She also claimed Israel had 'kidnapped' the group in international waters and 'taken them against their will', adding that it was 'another intentional violation of rights'. Analysing her body language yesterday, Ms James said Ms Thunberg has 'several verbal and visual skills that could make her the poster girl for rebellious teenagers'. She claimed the activist still looks like a teenager despite her age, and her 'youthful appearance tends to add to the image of a heroine as she appears as a loner'. Ms James described Ms Thunberg as 'the isolated youth standing against the world of old male leaders and their nations', adding that her delivery is 'primarily political'. She continued: 'When she speaks she utilises many of the communication devices world leaders use to project power and authority. 'Her confidence levels on the global stage would match or even exceed seasoned leaders like Starmer as she looks firmly welded to her own message and view of what is right. 'Her body language suggests a sense of powerful self-affirmation for her messages. Her conviction looks unassailable. She seems to offer facts not opinions and there is her wry smile that seems to mock anyone who disagrees with her.' Ms James also noted a 'contrast of superiority and authority coming from the one who looks like the youngest in any room', saying that this created a 'counter-intuitive response in older heads while younger fans will see a path to power and the ability to change the world'. She continued: 'Her wry smile as she begins to talk gives that impression of superiority, as though she is silently mocking her critics. 'Like any good politician she uses pause and enunciation to pick out certain words she wants to be memorable and have emphasis. 'Her brows raise in an expression of authority and when she says more than once 'That is an illegal act' her staccato nod and her small shoulder shrugs help give the impression that she thinks she is on top of all the laws in this critical situation.' Ms James added that Ms Thunberg 'knows how to take control of the narrative' like most politicians, and she now appears calmer than in previous years when she had become known for 'dramatic emotional displays'. Her comment that 'That is not the real story' displayed skill in 'redirecting and taking control' during an interview, according to Ms James. The expert concluded: 'This version of Thunberg could project a contagious type of rebellion via the way her body bristles with defiance. 'Walking along alone in another clip though her body language tended to be more about teenage style stubbornness. Her arms were firmly folded, her lips clamped, and her chin lifted to suggest a refusal to back down or buckle under pressure.' Speaking upon arrival in Paris en route to her home country of Sweden yesterday, Ms Thunberg called for the release of the other activists who were detained aboard the Madleen. The conditions they faced during the detention 'are absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now,' she said. The trip was meant to protest against Israeli restrictions on aid to Gaza's population of over two million people after 20 months of war, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the journey. 'We were well aware of the risks of this mission,' Ms Thunberg said. 'The aim was to get to Gaza and to be able to distribute the aid.' She said the activists would continue trying to get aid to Gaza. On Monday, US President Donald Trump called Ms Thunberg 'a young angry person' and recommended she take anger management classes. 'I think the world need a lot more young angry women,' Ms Thunberg said yesterday in response.
Spectator
5 hours ago
- Spectator
What happened to Piers Morgan
'What happened to Piers Morgan?' asked a Spectator writer last weekend. The answer, according to slavishly pro-Israel commentator Jonathan Sacerdoti, is that I'm now 'dark, degraded, dismal and debased' – because I've become more critical of how Israel is prosecuting its war in Gaza. For a long time on my YouTube show Uncensored, I defended the country's right to defend itself after 7 October attacks. But I now believe Benjamin Netanyahu's government has crossed the 'proportionality' line with its recent food and aid blockade and relentless bombardment of civilians. Self-evidently, Israel is failing in its mission to eliminate Hamas and get the remaining hostages released. Its forces have been killing and starving a horrendous number of children as they go after the terrorists – and if finance minister Bezalel Smotrich is to be taken at his genocidal-sounding word, its new mission is to kick all Palestinians out of Gaza, which would constitute ethnic cleansing. Even former Israeli prime ministers now say it's committing war crimes. When I defended Israel, I was subjected to a ferocious onslaught from pro-Palestinian trolls who branded me a 'Zionist genocide-enabler'. Now, I've had an equally vile barrage of abuse and threats from pro-Israeli trolls branding me a 'Jew-hating anti-Semite'. How can I be both? Amid the pro-Israeli hate, I criticised Dawn French for offensively downplaying 7 October as just 'a bad thing' in a mocking video, and I described the insufferably tedious Greta Thunberg as an attention-seeking narcissist for preposterously claiming she'd been kidnapped by the IDF on her puerile selfie-yacht stunt. I was instantly attacked as an Israeli stooge by the same pro-Palestinian trolls who'd been lauding me and praised by the pro-Israeli trolls who'd been howling 'Hamas lover!' at me for days. 'You can't win, Piers,' I hear you say. But for a journalist to be attacked by both sides in a war of this historical complexity is a win. It means I'm doing my job properly. The answer to 'What happened to Piers Morgan?' is that I'm right where I want to be. 'Cambio de Tercio tonight? x' read the anonymous text as I attended the Champions League final. I was intrigued; that's my favourite Spanish restaurant in London. 'Who's this?' I replied. 'I'm in Munich.' 'Rishi.' I've regularly texted with our former prime minister, and Cambio is also one of his favourite restaurants, so this made perfect sense. 'Ah! You've got a new number. Are you there tonight? Let's have dinner soon.' 'I have a new number. Would love dinner. Will you be in LA over the summer?' (Rishi and I, with our wives, dined together in Beverly Hills last August.) 'Great,' I replied, 'And yes, will be in LA.' He then said he'd get one of his advisers, a mutual friend, to sort the date. 'PSG ripping Inter Milan to pieces,' I added. 'I'm watching on TV,' he said. 'I was rooting for Inter, always backing the underdog!' Again, very Rishi. It was only the next day that I spotted the 'x' at the end of his initial message and alarm bells rang. Rishi and I are friendly, but not 'x' friendly. Sure enough, our mutual friend confirmed it wasn't him. Coincidentally, during my trip to Qatar to attend the Emir's state dinner for President Trump, one of the latter's aides reminded me of the time a prankster once chatted to The Donald on the phone by pretending to be me. Incredibly, the imposter persuaded the White House switchboard to put 'me' through to Trump and they had a lengthy conversation. Obviously, all hell broke loose when one of his team later asked me how the call had gone and I said I hadn't made any calls. The aide said they assumed the fake chat would get leaked somewhere, and prompt several firings, but nothing ever appeared. Which raises the question, as with the fake Rishi: why do it? Five years ago, on a family villa holiday in Saint-Tropez, we were burgled by a gang that broke in while we were asleep. A local detective revealed they were ruthless teenage girl thieves with petite mains or 'little hands'. This week, Deadline Hollywood announced that Universal Studios and Working Title had won a 'ten-way bidding war' to land a rights deal in the 'six-figure against seven figures' for my wife Celia's new novel Little Hands, about a gang of girl thieves operating on the French Riviera. And they say crime doesn't pay. I'm 33-1 to be London's next mayor. In light of Sir Keir Starmer's winter fuel allowance U-turn, broken tax promises and unachievable plan to build 1.5 million new homes during this parliament, if I ever do become a politician, my only pledge will be to make no pledges.
Spectator
5 hours ago
- Spectator
Portrait of the week: Spending review, LA protests and Greta Thunberg deported
Home Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, was the last minister to agree funding in the government spending review. Once the NHS and defence were settled there wasn't enough to go round. The police wanted more. Everyone over the state pension age in England and Wales with an income of £35,000 or less will receive the winter fuel payment after all, at a cost of £1.25 billion, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced. Capital spending included £39 billion on social housing over the next ten years. The government also committed £14.2 billion for the new Sizewell C nuclear power station, but did not say where the money was coming from. Rolls-Royce was selected as the preferred bidder to build the country's first small modular reactors. Unemployment rose to 4.6 per cent, its highest level since 2021, up from 4.5 per cent. Any child in England whose parents receive Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals from September 2026, adding 500,000 to the scheme. Teachers in England can use artificial intelligence to mark homework, under government guidance. The NHS said that a blood shortage required an increase of donors from 800,000 to a million. David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, announced sanctions against two Israeli ministers over comments which 'incited extremist violence', banning them from entering Britain. Zia Yusuf resigned as the chairman of Reform UK. He had criticised Sarah Pochin, the party's new MP, for urging Sir Keir Starmer to back a burqa ban, saying: 'I do think it's dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn't do.' Two days later he returned to the party in a role with the so-called Doge UK team, seeking savings in council spending. Labour won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election for the Scottish parliament with 8,559 votes, ahead of the SNP's 7,957 and Reform's 7,088. There was rioting in Ballymena after an alleged sexual assault by two teenage Romanian-speaking boys. An audit commissioned by the secretary general of Unite found that there had been a 'pervasive fraud environment' in the union, which spent £112 million on building a hotel in Birmingham, losing £53.8 million. Last week Unite members voted to continue the dustmen's strike in Birmingham, which began on 11 March. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, agreed with US warnings against a new Chinese embassy at the former Royal Mint site on Tower Hill, fearing espionage. Marks and Spencer began taking online orders for home delivery again, six weeks after a cyber attack. Peter Easterby, the only racehorse trainer to have sent out more than 1,000 winners both over jumps and on the flat, died aged 95. Novelist Frederick Forsyth died aged 86. Abroad About 2,000 National Guard troops were deployed in Los Angeles by the federal government, against the wishes of Governor Gavin Newsom of California, to confront violent protests against the migrant deportation policy of President Donald Trump. A curfew was imposed and 700 Marines and 2,000 more National Guard were sent in. Mr Trump said he was 'disappointed' that Elon Musk had called his 'big, beautiful' budget bill a 'disgusting abomination'; Mr Musk complained of the President's 'ingratitude', declaring: 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election.' He then tweeted: 'Time to drop the really big bomb: Donald Trump is in the Epstein files.' He later deleted it. Mr Trump signed a proclamation banning entry for people from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen; a partial ban extended to Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Russia launched an attack with cruise missiles and hundreds of drones on Kyiv and other places in Ukraine; the next night Karkhiv was the target; on another night Kyiv and Odessa. Russia and Ukraine exchanged sick and badly wounded prisoners of war, those aged under 25, and bodies of 12,000 soldiers. Russia's mercenary group Wagner announced it was withdrawing from Mali after four years. A 75ft statue of Lenin in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, was quietly taken down. Eleven were killed in a shooting at a secondary school in the city of Graz in Austria, including the suspect. A yacht carrying Greta Thunberg and 11 others trying to bring aid to Gaza was towed to the port of Ashdod, after being seized by Israel, and she was put on a plane to Paris. CSH
