ISRAEL deported activist Greta Thunberg today, the country’s Foreign Ministry said, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized by the Israeli military.

Ms Thunberg left on a flight to France and then headed to her home country of Sweden, the Foreign Ministry said in a post on X. 

Speaking upon arrival at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, Ms Thunberg called for the release of the other activists who were detained aboard the Freedom Flotilla. She described a “quite chaotic and uncertain” situation during the detention.

She said the conditions they faced “are absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now.

“We were well aware of the risks of this mission,” Ms Thunberg said. “The aim was to get to Gaza and to be able to distribute the aid.” 

Ms Thunberg called on supporters to ask their governments to mobilise “to demand not only humanitarian aid being let into Gaza but most importantly an end to the occupation and an end to the systemic oppression and violence that Palestinians are facing on an everyday basis.”

She said recognising Palestine is “the very, very, very minimum” that governments can do to help.

Ms Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on the Madleen aiming to carry aid to Gaza and shed light on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said three activists, including Thunberg, had been deported along with a journalist. It said it had encouraged some of the group to do this so they could speak freely about their experiences.

Israel seized the boat early on Monday about 125 miles off of Gaza’s coast, according to the coalition, which said Israel’s actions were a violation of international law. 

Israel rejects the charge saying such ships intend to breach what it argues is a lawful naval blockade of Gaza.

Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing the activists, said eight other passengers refused deportation and were expected to be brought before a court later today.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, Palestinian health officials and witnesses say Israeli forces fired toward crowds making their way to a food distribution point run by an Israeli and US-supported group in the Gaza Strip early today, killing three people and wounding scores.

The Israeli military said it fired warning shots at people it said had advanced toward its troops hundreds of yards from the aid site prior to its opening hours.