Jerusalem, October 8: Israel said on Monday it had deported 171 more activists detained aboard an aid flotilla bound for Gaza, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, after intercepting the vessels last week in the Mediterranean.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a post on X that the deportees, described as “provocateurs from the Hamas-Sumud flotilla,” were flown to Greece and Slovakia. The group included citizens from several countries, among them Greece, Italy, France, and the United States.
The flotilla, made up of dozens of boats, was stopped by Israeli forces on Wednesday as it attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. The activists were taken into custody and transferred to Israel’s Ktzi’ot prison in the Negev Desert, according to the Waves of Freedom group that organized the voyage.
On Sunday, nine Swiss nationals who had been part of the flotilla returned home, some alleging they had been subjected to inhumane and degrading conditions while detained. The group included former Geneva mayor Remy Pagani.
“The participants condemned the inhumane detention conditions and the humiliating and degrading treatment they suffered upon their arrest and incarceration,” Waves of Freedom said in a statement.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson dismissed the allegations as “complete lies,” saying all detainees’ legal rights were upheld, and that no physical force was used. “All had access to water, food, and restrooms,” the ministry said.
Israel maintains that its blockade of Gaza, imposed in 2007 after Hamas took control of the enclave, is necessary to prevent weapons smuggling. Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the blockade as collective punishment of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.
