Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg claimed she was taken by Israeli forces in international waters as she arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport following her deportation from Israel, reports RTE.
“We were kidnapped in international waters,” she told journalists upon arrival in Paris.
“This is yet another intentional violation of rights that is added to the list of countless other violations that Israel is committing,” Ms Thunberg said, adding that her own ordeal was “nothing compared to what the Palestinians are going through”, reports RTE.
The 22-year-old arrived in France a day after the Israeli navy stopped her and fellow pro-Palestinian activists from reaching Gaza by sea.
The group set sail from Italy on 1 June aboard the Madleen, a charity ship carrying food and supplies to Gaza, where the UN has warned the entire population is at risk of famine, reports RTE.
As the vessel neared Gaza yesterday, Israeli forces boarded it in an attempt to enforce a longstanding naval blockade of the enclave. All 12 people on board, including Ms Thunberg, were detained.
Ms Thunberg said she did not accept that she had entered Israel unlawfully, and called for the release of the activists still being held, reports RTE.
According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, those aboard the so-called “selfie yacht” were taken to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv “to depart from Israel and return to their home countries”.
“Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority,” it added, reports RTE.
Huwaida Arraf, a founding member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition behind the mission, said the ship was carrying 12 civilians.
Arraf, a human rights attorney, said the vessel was lawfully navigating international waters, and accused Israel of violating international law by interfering, reports RTE.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, she claimed the Israeli military had abducted the group and falsely asserted they entered the country illegally.
Ms Arraf said participants were informed in advance that they could sign deportation papers, and those who didn’t would be taken before a judge. She added all would ultimately be expelled, reports RTE.
“This is all pro forma. There is no justice to be had in the Israeli legal system, so they will eventually be deported,” reports RTE.
She confirmed more flotillas are being planned and said the effort will continue until the blockade on Gaza is lifted.
Footage released by the group showed activists raising their hands as Israeli forces came aboard. One member of the crew stated that no one was injured, reports RTE.
The operation was strongly condemned by Turkey, which called it a “heinous attack”, and by Iran, which labelled it “a form of piracy” in international waters.
In May, another ship from the Freedom Flotilla, the Conscience, sustained damage in international waters off Malta while en route to Gaza. The activists believe it was targeted by an Israeli drone, reports RTE.
In a 2010 incident, Israeli commandos raided the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara—part of a similar Gaza-bound flotilla—killing ten civilians.
Defence Minister Israel Katz defended the blockade, in place for years before the current conflict with Hamas, saying it was essential to prevent arms smuggling, reports RTE.
The Madleen was stopped roughly 185 kilometres from Gaza’s shoreline, according to location data shared by the coalition.
French President Emmanuel Macron called for the prompt return of the six French nationals aboard the ship, a presidential source confirmed, reports RTE.
Among them were journalists Omar Fayyad from Al Jazeera and Yanis Mhamdi from the publication Blast, said Reporters Without Borders, which condemned their detention and called for their “immediate release”.
Al Jazeera issued a statement strongly objecting to the Israeli action: “Al Jazeera categorically denounces the Israeli incursion”, it said, demanding its journalist’s release, reports RTE.
Adalah, an Israeli legal NGO, said the detained activists had requested their assistance, and were likely to be held in a detention centre before deportation.
Israel has come under growing international pressure to open up aid access to Gaza amid widespread food shortages and humanitarian need, reports RTE.
In what was described as a “symbolic act”, hundreds of activists launched a land convoy from Tunisia in hopes of reaching Gaza.
Israel has resumed some aid deliveries after a two-month halt and is cooperating with the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), reports RTE.
However, humanitarian groups have criticised the GHF, and the United Nations has refused to work with it, citing concerns about its neutrality and operations.
Gaza’s civil defence agency reports that dozens of people have died near GHF aid distribution areas since late May, reports RTE.
In Gaza City, displaced resident Umm Mohammed Abu Namous expressed a wish for stronger global support, saying she hopes “that all nations stand with us and help us, and that we receive ten boats instead of one”.
“We are innocent people,” she said. “Our children are dying of hunger … We do not want to lose more children because of hunger,” reports RTE.
The October 2023 Hamas attack, which began the ongoing war, left more than 1,200 people dead in Israel, mostly civilians, according to official data compiled by AFP.
In Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry reports that over 54,800 people have died since the war began—mostly civilians. The United Nations considers these figures reliable, reports RTE.
Of the 251 people taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 remain in Gaza, according to Israel’s military. It believes 32 of them are dead, reports RTE.
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