Activist Greta Thunberg is now being deported to Sweden via France, said the Israeli Foreign Ministry, after the Freedom Flotilla was seized by the forces. On Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry shared an X post along with pictures of Greta informing about the deportation. This comes a day after the Gaza-bound ship that Thunberg was on was seized by the Israeli military. Thunberg was one of the 12 activists aboard the ship carrying aid to war-torn Gaza.

Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing Thunberg and the other activists, said that Thunberg, two other activists and a journalist had agreed to be deported and leave Israel. Other activists refused deportation, were being held in detention, and their case was set to be heard by Israeli authorities.

Calling the boat a “Selfie Yacht”, the ministry posted earlier that the passengers arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport to depart from Israel and return to their home countries. It also wrote that those who refused to sign deportation documents to leave Israel will be brought before the judicial authority to authorise their deportation.

Israeli naval forces seized the boat about 200 kilometres (125 miles) off Gaza’s coast, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group that organised the journey. The boat, accompanied by Israel’s navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod Monday evening, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. As the passengers arrived at the Ashdod port, the ministry posted that all the passengers are currently undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health.

The activists said they were protesting the ongoing war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel says such ships violate its naval blockade of Gaza. Israel’s Foreign Ministry portrayed the voyage as a public relations stunt, saying on social media that “the ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel.”

(With AP Inputs)