Israel Deports Greta Thunberg After Intercepting Gaza-Bound Activist Boat

Thunberg, who is 22, was detained on Monday after Israeli forces boarded a small boat carrying 12 people that sought to bring food, medical supplies and other items to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade. The boat was taken to Israel’s port of Ashdod, north of Gaza.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organized the effort, said the craft was stopped in international waters. Israel said that any humanitarian aid should be distributed through established channels and promised to deliver the items that the ship was carrying. Israel says its naval blockade of Gaza is intended to stop weapons smuggling and permits it to stop ships on the high seas under some circumstances.

The British-flagged 59-foot sailboat, nicknamed Madleen, left from Italy earlier in June. 

A total of 12 people were detained from the ship, including 11 activists and one journalist for Al Jazeera, according to Adalah, a legal center for the Arab minority in Israel that petitioned for the release of the passengers.

The legal group said four of the passengers have left or are on their way out of the country while eight others decided to contest their deportation. Thunberg consented to deportation, a member of the organization said.

Also on board the boat were activists from Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey and Brazil. Among them is a French member of the European Parliament, Rima Hassan.

Organizers of the sea mission to Gaza said that while the ship was carrying a small amount of aid, the group’s mission was a political attempt to challenge Israel’s siege of Gaza and potentially open a maritime corridor for other ships to bring aid to the strip.

The effort to sail to Gaza comes at a critical point in the humanitarian crisis when half a million people are facing starvation, according to a report in May by a U.N.-backed international famine warning system.

Israel has been fighting a war against Hamas militants in Gaza for more than a year and a half. The conflict has killed more than 54,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, who don’t say how many were combatants. Israeli forces invaded the enclave in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that left some 1,200 people dead and about 250 seized as hostages.

Write to Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.com