ISRAELI authorities said today that they have deported to Greece and Slovakia another 171 people detained for taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, including prominent Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

The deportations came as Hamas and the Israelis met for negotiations over President Donald Trump’s ultimatum to the Palestinians to end the fighting.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted on X that the flotilla activists deported “were citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, Britain, Serbia, and the United States.”

Israeli authorities again rejected accusations that they had mistreated the activists after stories emerged from deportees sent to Turkey, Spain and Italy over the weekend.

Lubna Tuma, a lawyer with the Adalah association representing more than 470 Global Sumud Flotilla participants who were detained last week as they attempted to break the Israeli siege of the Gaza strip, said that 150 people were still being held in Israel’s Kitziot prison. Some 40 of the activists are reportedly on hunger strike.

“Some stated that they prefer that their food go to the people in Gaza,” Ms Tuma said during a live briefing on Monday that was broadcast on Adalah’s and the flotilla’s Instagram accounts.

Others were also refusing to drink water “until medical treatment is given to all detainees,” she said.

Meanwhile, officials from Israel and Hamas are meeting at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday in the hope of hammering out a potential ceasefire in Gaza on the eve of the conflict’s second anniversary.

The indirect negotiations, where the Israeli delegation is headed by top negotiator Ron Dermer, were set to arrive on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

Hamas’s delegation, headed by Khalil al-Hayyah, arrived on Sunday in Egypt, the group said in a statement.

It said the negotiations will focus on the first stage of a ceasefire, including the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces as well as the release of hostages held by the militants in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are also expected to join the talks, Egypt’s Al-Ahram reported.

This latest push for peace comes after Hamas accepted some elements of the US plan, a move welcomed by Mr Trump.

Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages — about 20 believed to be alive — within three days. It would give up power and disarm.