Israel Plans to Deport Gaza Aid Boat Passengers, Including Greta Thunberg

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it had taken the passengers who were detained aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship, including the activist Greta Thunberg, to an airport in Tel Aviv for deportation.

The boat, operated by a pro-Palestinian activist group called the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was intercepted by Israeli forces on Monday. Its passengers were expected to leave Ben Gurion Airport for their home countries within hours, the ministry said in a statement early Tuesday.

Any passengers from the ship, called the Madleen, who refused to leave Israel could be brought before a judicial authority to carry out their deportation, the ministry said in the statement, which was posted on social media. It was unclear whether any of them had refused to leave.

Representatives of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Tuesday.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition leads an international grass-roots campaign that opposes Israel’s longstanding naval blockade of Gaza by sending ships filled with humanitarian aid to the enclave. The Madleen had set sail from Sicily earlier this month.

Israel vowed to prevent the ship from reaching Gaza, saying that its military would use any means to stop it from breaching the blockade.

The Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the Madleen had been diverted toward Israeli shores. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said that its activists had been “kidnapped” by the Israeli military.