Greta Thunberg departs Israel after ordeal with government
Israel has had the final word in its heavily publicised spat with Greta Thunberg, posting candid photos of her after she was briefly holed up in prison.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been deported from Israel, one day after the Israeli navy intercepted a boat carrying her and other pro-Palestinian campaigners en route to Gaza.
Thunberg, 22, boarded a flight to France on Tuesday and is expected to return to Sweden from there, according to the ministry.
“Greta Thunberg just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden,” the Israel Foreign Ministry posted from its official X account.
The charity vessel was part of a civil society effort to challenge Israel’s blockade on Gaza. It was stopped off the coast before it could reach Palestinian waters.
Three other passengers agreed to immediate deportation alongside Thunberg, while eight additional crew members are disputing the deportation order.
They are being represented by Israeli rights organisation Adalah, which confirmed the activists would be held in a detention centre pending a court hearing.
It marks a humiliation for Thunberg, who has famously abstained from air travel, even notably sailing to a climate conference in New York in 2019.
On Monday, a prerecorded video was released of Thunberg, one of the world’s best-known climate activists, urging help after being “intercepted and kidnapped” by Israel.
She and other activists were on the UK-flagged ship Madleen, operated by activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which was carrying food and other supplies for Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. Israeli military boarded the ship after warning Thunberg on Sunday to turn back and that Israel would “take whatever measures are necessary” to ensure the ship didn’t get to shore.
Thunberg refuses to watch Israel video
Thunberg and fellow aid activists have refused to view a video showing the atrocities commited by Hamas on October 7, 2023, Israel’s Defence Minister has said.
Israel Katz had said the activists, whose ship was intercepted by the Israeli navy as it attempted to break a blockade on Gaza, would be made to watch the video.
However he said on Tuesday morning that when they found out what the film was about, “they refused to continue watching.”
“Greta [Thunberg] and her flotilla companions were taken into a room upon their arrival for a screening of the horror film of the October 7 massacre, and when they saw what it was about, they refused to continue watching,” Mr Katz said in a statement.
“The antisemitic flotilla members are turning a blind eye to the truth and have proven once again that they prefer the murderers to the murdered and continue to ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas against Jewish and Israeli women, adults, and children,” he added.
Thunberg being held in a Israeli prison for migrants ahead of a court hearing that could see her deported from the country.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry released a picture of Thunberg after soldiers boarded the UK-flagged ship Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, on Monday.
On Tuesday, AEST, the foreign ministry said the vessel officials have mocked as the “selfie yacht” had now docked at Ashdod, in the nation’s south.
“The passengers are currently undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health,” it said on X.
Thunberg, 22, was one of a dozen people on board the ship which left from Italy on June 1 bound for Gaza as part of an attempted aid delivery.
Her lawyer Nariman Shehade Zoabi told Swedish news outlet Expressen she was demanding to meet her client.
“Based on previous experiences, Greta Thunberg and the others will be taken to Givon prison near the town of Ramle,” she said.
“There, what are called illegal immigrants are detained and there is a court that can quickly decide on deportation.”
‘Strange person’: Trump’s jibe
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump ridiculed Thunberg in a White House press conference overnight, telling reporters the young woman should seek “anger management”.
“Well she’s a strange person – she’s a young, angry person,” he said.
“I don’t know if it’s real anger, it’s hard to believe actually, but I saw what happened.
“She’s certainly different. I think she needs to go to an anger management class, that’s my primary recommendation for her.”
Asked for his response to Thunberg’s claims she was she was “kidnapped” by the Israelis, he replied: “I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg.”
Sweden’s blunt reply to plea for help
Sweden earlier rejected Thunberg’s request for help, with Foreign Affairs Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard telling media the activist’s supporters had been flooding consular hotlines.
“A great responsibility rests on those who choose to travel contrary to the advice given to a place,” she said outside the Swedish parliament.
“It is quite dangerous to run a campaign that means that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ consular hotline is called down.
“The consequence is that Swedes in need abroad have to wait in line for far too long.
“If she needs consular support, we will do everything we can, just as we do with all Swedish citizens.”
The detainment of Thunberg and her crewmates sparked demonstrations in her homeland of Sweden and across Europe.
Forced to watch October 7 film
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the military to screen graphic footage of the October 7 Hamas attacks for Greta Thunberg’s group of activists, who attempted to break the blockade on Gaza this week.
The “Bearing Witness” video is a 43-minute compilation produced by the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s unit.
It includes raw, uncensored footage showing massacres and the mutilation of bodies during the attack.
Katz said the screening was intended to confront the activists with the reality of the violence committed by Hamas.
“It’s appropriate that Greta the antisemite and her Hamas-supporting friends should see exactly who is the terror group Hamas that they support and act on behalf of, what atrocious acts they carried out on women, the elderly and kids, and who Israel is fighting for its defence against,” Katz said in the statement.
He said that the video would be shown to the group upon their arrival in the port city of Ashdod, where their boat is being towed after Israeli forces took control as it neared the Gaza coast overnight.
Katz commended the soldiers for quickly securing the ship.
Video taken before the boarding suggests the activists planned to demonstrate passive resistance.
Israel has previously shown Bearing Witness to journalists, diplomats, and public figures in select private screenings around the world as part of its effort to draw international attention to the October 7 attacks.
‘Intercepted and kidnapped’
A prerecorded video has been released of Thunberg, one of the world’s best known climate activists, urging help after being “intercepted and kidnapped”.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has released a statement saying the ship was “safely making its way to the shores of Israel” and that “the passengers are expected to return to their home countries”.
Thunberg was on the ship with other activists, which was carrying food and other supplies for Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
Israel had warned on Sunday its military would stop the ship before it even made it to shore.
Israel’s defence minister, who described the activists on board as “Hamas propaganda spokespeople”, told Thunberg to “turn back because you will not reach Gaza”.
“I have instructed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to act to prevent the Madleen flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza — and to take whatever measures are necessary to that end,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement posted to X on Sunday, translated to English.
About 10.40am AEST on Monday, a prerecorded video was shared on Thunberg’s Instagram account by Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
“My name is Greta Thunberg and I am from Sweden. If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel,” she said.
“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.”
Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry released its own statement soon after.
“The ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” the ministry wrote on X.
The ministry accused Thunberg and the other activists of their “sole purpose” being “to gain publicity”, and claimed the ship had “less than a single truckload of aid”.
“More than 1200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza,” the statement said.
“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies.
The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.”
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition shared footage from the ship before Israeli officials boarded.
The group wrote: “Moments ago, drones dropped unidentified chemicals on the Madleen. Immediately after, our peaceful volunteers were rammed and intercepted before Israeli forces boarded the vessel. We lost all contact with them seconds later.”
The UK-flagged ship called aimed to challenge the Israeli blockade, which has been in place for years, even before the Israel-Hamas war since October 2023.
Mr Katz said Israel would “act against any attempt to break the blockade”.
Thunberg had posted on Instagram soon after Mr Katz’s statement on Sunday.
“As we are sailing closer to Gaza with Israel saying they will not allow the boat to arrive with humanitarian aid (which would be a crime by them), it’s very important to keep in mind that this mission is not about us nor the boat,” she wrote.
“This is about the genocide, blockade and systematic oppression of Palestinians.
“People in Gaza don’t need anyone to come and save them, they need us to amplify and support their struggle for justice, that we end our complicity, put pressure and cut ties with those committing human rights violations. Keep all eyes on deck but above all, all eyes on Palestine and all oppressed people.”
Organisers said Saturday the vessel had entered Egyptian waters and was nearing Gaza, where the war has entered its 21st month.
“We are not armed. There is only humanitarian aid,” European parliament member Rima Hassan told AFP from the boat, vowing to “stay mobilised until the last minute”.
The coalition said in a statement on X it expected “interception and an attack from Israel at any moment”, calling for protection from the governments of those on board, who are nationals of Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands.
‘Risked their lives’ for food
In Gaza, where the United Nations has repeatedly warned of famine, the civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The GHF has come under criticism from humanitarian agencies and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.
Witness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP that “people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah” in the early morning.
“After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire,” he said.
The Israeli military said it fired on people who “continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers” despite warnings.
The GHF said in a statement there had been no incidents “at any of our three sites” on Sunday.
It said it had distributed more than a million meals, including more than 600,000 through a trial of “direct to community distribution” via “community leaders”.
Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over bloodstained body bags.
“I can’t see you like this,” said Lin al-Daghma by her father’s body. She spoke of the struggle to access food aid after more than two months of a total Israeli blockade of Gaza, despite a recent easing.
Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to the civil defence agency.
At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan told AFP she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site “because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting. I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families”.
– AFP
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