Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and 170 other members of the Global Sumud flotilla were deported from Israel on Monday, departing from Ramon International Airport in southern Israel on flights to Greece and Slovakia, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Photos released by the ministry showed Thunberg and other detainees walking through the airport dressed in gray sweatsuits and white T-shirts.
The deportees represent a broad coalition of activists from across Europe and North America, including Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Serbia, and the United States, the ministry said.
In a statement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry maintained that “all the legal rights of the participants in this PR stunt were and will continue to be fully upheld,” adding that “the lies they are spreading are part of their pre-planned fake news campaign.”
The ministry also said that the only instance of violence occurred when a Spanish participant allegedly bit a medical staffer at Ketziot Prison.
Thunberg and several other activists have accused Israeli authorities of holding them in unlawful or harsh conditions during their detention.
With Monday’s flights, Israel has deported 341 Global Sumud flotilla participants in total, while 138 remain in custody, the ministry said.
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