Amid 'Mistreatment' Claims, Activist Greta Thunberg, 171 Others Deported From Israel

Activist Greta Thunberg has been deported from Israel, the Israeli Foreign Ministry informed.

In a post on X, Israel Foreign Ministry wrote, "171 additional provocateurs from the Hamas–Sumud flotilla, including Greta Thunberg, were deported today from Israel to Greece and Slovakia."

"The deportees are citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the UK, Serbia, and the United States," the ministry added.

The ministry further accused the activists of spreading lies and fake news regarding their treatment by Israeli authorities.

"All the legal rights of the participants in this PR stunt were and will continue to be fully upheld. The lies they are spreading are part of their pre-planned fake news campaign," the ministry's statement read.

The ministry also cautioned people to not believe the activists.

"The only violent incident came from a Hamas–Sumud provocateur who bit a female medical staff member of Ketsiyot Prison. Don’t believe the fake news they are spreading," the ministry said.

The ministry also shared photos of Greta Thunberg and other activists at the airport before being deported.

Some 137 activists detained by Israel for taking part in a flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza arrived in Turkey on Saturday after being deported, with two alleging that Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was mistreated during her detention.

Israel did not immediately comment on the new allegations, but its foreign ministry earlier described reports that detainees had been mistreated as "complete lies".

Two of the activists, Hazwani Helmi, a Malaysian citizen, and Windfield Beaver, an American citizen, told Reuters at the airport that they had witnessed Thunberg being mistreated, saying she was shoved and forced to wear an Israeli flag.

"It was a disaster. They treated us like animals," said Helmi, 28, adding that detainees were not provided with clean food or water and that medication and belongings were confiscated.

Beaver, 43, said Thunberg was "treated terribly" and "used as propaganda," describing how she was pushed into a room as Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived.

Israel has faced international condemnation after its military intercepted all of about 40 boats in a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and detained more than 450 activists.

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