The Israeli navy boarded the boat “Madleen”, which was heading to Gaza with Greta Thunberg , 22, and eleven other activists on board, on Monday night. Israeli commandos took over the boat and arrested the activists.

Thunberg and three of the activists have now accepted deportation and are already on their way out of Israel, according to their lawyers and Israeli authorities. Eight refused to sign the deportation papers and will be brought before a court that will apparently confirm the deportation.

The article in brief

Greta Thunberg and eleven other activists were arrested on Monday by Israeli military personnel who took them and their boat to the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

On Tuesday night, they were detained at Ben Gurion Airport and deported. Four, including Thunberg, accepted, while eight appealed.

“I do more good outside of Israel than if I were forced to stay here,” says Thunberg.

“More useful outside Israel”

– I do more good outside of Israel than if I am forced to stay here for a few weeks. If we choose to stay here against the will of the Israeli authorities and are arrested for a few weeks, it will harm our cause, Greta Thunberg told her lawyers.

This is according to Moatasem Zedan, spokesperson for the Israeli human rights group Adalah, whose lawyers represent the activists.

– They met with the lawyers on Tuesday morning. Greta listened, she and three others chose to leave the country, he tells Expressen and continues:

– They said that everyone had agreed in advance to refuse to sign any papers. But the four changed their minds.

Late Monday evening, the detainees and their boat arrived in the port city of Ashdod.

Israeli authorities wanted Greta Thunberg and the other activists to see a film from the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the massacre that triggered the Gaza War. The film consists of video clips taken with the Hamas men's own body cameras.

Refused to watch the movie

But the activists were not interested, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who accused them of being anti-Semitic. They refused to watch the film, Israeli media reported.

"They proved once again that they prefer murderers to victims. They continue to ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas against Jewish and Israeli women, the elderly and children," Katz said, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Israeli military forces brought the detainees and their boat to the Israeli port city of Ashdod on Monday evening. On Tuesday night, they were detained at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv, awaiting deportation.

The lawyers waited all Monday at the port of Ashdod for their clients to be brought ashore. They noted that it took more than 24 hours after the arrest before they were allowed to meet their clients at the airport. Diplomats are also on site at the airport.

New picture of Greta

Israel's Foreign Ministry writes on X that some of the activists will leave the country"within hours", while those who do not accept will be brought before a judicial authority that will decide on deportation. The Israeli Foreign Ministry also posts a picture of Greta Thunberg with Israeli flags in the background:

Waiting at the port

Lawyer Nariman Shehade Zoabi from Adalah waited all Monday in Ashdod with a team of six people, three of whom are lawyers – and explains that the deportation process can be quick.

Adalah strongly protests Israel’s boarding of the “Madleen,” calling the action “illegal” because the activists were trying to break “Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza.” The group also protests their deportation as “illegal immigrants.”

– Those arrested are not illegal immigrants at all. They were on their way to Gaza, not to Israel. The military has forced them to Israel against their will, says Nariman Shehade Zoabi.

Human rights group provides legal assistance

Adalah, which means “justice” in Arabic, is both a human rights organization and a legal center. For 20 years, it has focused on helping Israel’s Arab minority, the Palestinians who are Israeli citizens and make up about 20 percent of the population.

Among those arrested is activist Thiego Avila from Brazil, who has been noted for, among other things, participating in Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's funeral in Beirut last year.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry says the boat was full of celebrities, calling it a “selfie boat” and that “the passengers are expected to return to their home countries.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the military to show a video with original footage from Hamas massacres in Israeli border communities on October 7, 2023, the attack that triggered the Gaza War.

The 43-minute video shows how the terrorists kill their victims in films taken with the Hamas men's own body cameras. These are shocking images that have been shown to small groups and have aroused strong emotions. Expressen's correspondent was among the first journalists to see the video in October 2023.