Greta Thunberg and activists from the ‘freedom flotilla’ declined to view footage of the October 7 events before their deportation. A photo shows the disappointed Swede being expelled from Israel.

After reportedly declining to watch footage of Hamas atrocities in Israel on October 7, 2023, Greta Thunberg and three other activists from the ‘freedom flotilla’ are being deported from Israel.

The crew of the Madleen ship, aiming to deliver aid to Gaza, was intercepted by Israeli Navy boats and taken to the port of Ashdod before reaching their destination.

While eight activists are currently in detention for refusing to sign deportation papers, Thunberg and three others have signed the documents and are now departing from Israel.

Greta will fly to France alongside French activists before heading home to Sweden. Israel’s Foreign Ministry shared a photo of the disgruntled 22-year-old sitting on board the plane.  

‘I do more good outside of Israel than if I am forced to stay here for a few weeks,’ she said, according to Moatasem Zedan, a spokesperson for the human rights group Adalah who is providing legal representation to the activists. 

Prior to their deportation, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he’d instructed IDF officials to show the activists the full, unedited footage of the October 7 attacks as recorded by Hamas terrorist body cameras. 

‘It is appropriate that the anti-Semitic Greta and her fellow Hamas supporters see exactly who the Hamas terrorist organization they came to support and for whom they work is, what atrocities they committed against women, the elderly, and children, and against whom Israel is fighting to defend itself,’ he said. 

Later last night, he told reporters: ‘Greta and her flotilla companions were taken into a room upon their arrival to the screening of the horror film of the October 7 massacre… when they saw what it was about, they refused to continue watching. 

‘The anti-Semitic 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.’

Katz and other Israeli officials have come under fire for branding Thunberg and her fellow activists ‘anti-Semitic’ for wanting to deliver aid to starving Gazans. 

But Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said: ‘This wasn’t humanitarian aid. It’s Instagram activism…

‘Who’s really feeding Gaza and who’s really feeding their own ego? Greta was not bringing aid, she was bringing herself.’

The voyage of the Madleen from the Italian island of Sicily to Gaza was planned by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), an organisation founded shortly after October 7, 2023 to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The activists had set out to protest Israel’s military campaign in the embattled territory, which it claims amounts to genocide, and Israel’s restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid. 

Israel’s military operations and aid blockades have put the territory of around 2 million Palestinians at risk of famine.

The FFC said the activists were ‘kidnapped by Israeli forces’ while trying to deliver desperately needed aid on Monday. 

‘The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted and its life-saving cargo – including baby formula, food and medical supplies – confiscated,’ it said in a statement.

It added the ship was seized in international waters about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Gaza, and Adalah – a legal rights group representing the activists – asserted that Israel had ‘no legal authority’ to take it over.

The Madleen was said to have been shadowed by speedboats and drones before ‘quadcopters’ surrounded and sprayed the ship with an unidentified ‘white irritant substance’, shortly before the IDF seized it. 

Israel’s Foreign Ministry meanwhile has portrayed the voyage as nothing more than a publicity stunt, referring to the Madleen as ‘the selfie yacht’.  

It circulated footage of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel handing out sandwiches and water to the activists, who were wearing life vests, after the ship was intercepted adrift in the Mediterranean. 

A Foreign Ministry statement shared on X early this morning read: ‘Some of the ‘Selfie Yacht’ passengers are expected to leave within the next few hours. 

‘Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority, in accordance with Israeli law, to authorize their deportation. Consuls from the passengers’ home countries met them at the airport.’

Other footage released on Instagram by the FFC appeared to show the crew of the Madleen tossing their phones and laptops into the water prior to being boarded. 

In the wake of the Madleen’s seizure by Israeli forces, a pre-recorded message of Thunberg was shared on social media by the FFC.

‘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.’

But her request was snubbed by Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, who said the crew and passengers aboard the Madleen were aware of the risks of their journey. 

Stenergard said the ministry’s assessment is that no one was in danger and there was no need for consular support, according to Swedish outlet TT. 

‘A great responsibility rests on those who choose to travel contrary to the advice given to a place,’ she said outside the Swedish parliament, as protestors gathered in Stockholm to demand an intervention.

The minister lamented that, as a result of Greta’s plea, the consular hotline had received a high volume of calls that meant Swedes ‘in need’ abroad were being held in long queues for assistance.

‘It is quite dangerous to run a campaign that means that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ consular hotline is called down,’ she said, adding: ‘The consequence is that Swedes in need abroad have to wait in line for far too long.’

Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was among six French citizens those on board. 

She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has openly opposed Israel’s actions in Gaza, called for consular protection and the repatriation of the French citizens.

‘Most of all, France calls for a ceasefire as quickly as possible and the lifting of the humanitarian blockade. This is a scandal, unacceptable, that is playing out in Gaza. What’s been happening since early March is a disgrace, a disgrace,’ Macron said.

Next week, Macron is set to co-host a conference at the UN on a two-state solution and recently said France should move toward recognising a Palestinian state, drawing outrage from Israeli officials. 

US President Donald Trump also weighed in on the issue last night. 

When asked about the Freedom Flotilla and Thunberg’s activism at a White House press conference yesterday, the President suggested the Swede needs to calm down. 

‘I think she has to go to anger management class. That’s my primary recommendation for her.’

Trump described the climate activist as a ‘young, angry person,’ but added, ‘I don’t know if it’s real anger.’

The interception of the Freedom Flotilla by Israeli boats yesterday triggered widespread protests. 

In London, demonstrators gathered outside the FCDO offices in Whitehall to call on the country to protect the crew of the British-flagged ship. 

One held a sign that read: ‘Israel attacks UK boat. UK does nothing.’

Images emerged last night showing the deck of the charity vessel splattered with an unidentified white liquid. 

Activist Yasmin Acar, among those on board, said it had been deployed by Israel and was affecting her eyes.

Huwaida Arraf, the co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, also told Al Jazeera that crew members had said their eyes were burning from the substance.

‘We don’t know what that chemical was. Some people reported that their eyes were burning,’ they said. 

Defence Minister Katz insisted no one aboard the ship was harmed and congratulated the military on its ‘quick and safe takeover’ of the ship.

The crew on board the Madleen sailed towards Gaza in an effort to raise awareness of the deepening humanitarian crisis.

Israel imposed a blockade on supplies – including food and medicine – into the Palestinian enclave on March 2, and limited aid only began to enter again late last month after pressure from allies and warnings of famine.

ActionAid had reported in April that the price of flour in Gaza had soared to $300 a bag after more than 50 days without new aid deliveries. 

More than 3,700 children were newly admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in March alone, it said, an 80 per cent rise on the previous month, per UNOCHA. 

Still, most people in Gaza are surviving on just a single meal per day, consisting mostly of pasta, rice or canned food.

Humanitarian workers and experts have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive.

Nine tenths of the population have been displaced by 21 months of war, with Israel now pursuing a new major offensive in the strip. 

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. 

Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s Palestinian population. 

But it is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.

It recently allowed humanitarian deliveries to resume after barring them for more than two months and began working with the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a shadowy US-backed organisation. 

But humanitarian agencies have criticised the GHF and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.

Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.

In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, was damaged in international waters off Malta as it headed to Gaza, with the activists saying they suspected an Israeli drone attack.

A 2010 Israeli commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach the naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead.