News - Middle East: Israel has deported more activists it had abducted after intercepting the aid-carrying Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters en route to the besieged Gaza Strip.

In a statement released on Monday, Israeli authorities said they had deported another 171 activists held in detention, bringing the total number expelled to 341 out of 479 detainees.

The abductees, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, were reportedly sent to Greece and Slovakia.

Television footage showed Thunberg being greeted at Athens airport by a crowd, some waving Palestinian flags.

Nearly 500 activists were abducted on board the flotilla, which was attempting to break the blockade of Gaza.

Some of those released in recent days reported mistreatment by Israeli forces, including Thunberg, who was "dragged on the ground" and "forced to kiss Israeli flags."

Malaysian activist Hazwani Helmi and American activist Windfield Beaver gave similar accounts at Istanbul Airport, saying that the Swedish activist was shoved and paraded with an Israeli flag.

“It was a disaster. They treated us like animals,” Helmi said, adding that detainees were denied food, clean water, and even medication.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard has said that reports of the abusive treatment of Thunberg were "very serious" if confirmed.

The flotilla was near the Gaza shore when Israeli forces intercepted the humanitarian convoy overnight on Wednesday and into Thursday, while it was sailing in international waters.

The Israeli military seized more than 40 boats, detained the activists on board, and took them to the Israeli-occupied territories.

Several activists were transferred to the notorious Ketziot Prison in the Negev Desert in southern Israeli-occupied territories, a facility long associated with reports of human rights abuses.

Freed Swiss and Spanish members of the flotilla reported being held in inhumane conditions by Israeli forces.

Italian journalist Saverio Tommasi said Israeli soldiers had withheld medicines and treated the detained activists “like monkeys.”

The latest claims have added to the growing scrutiny of Israel for its treatment of the activists.

Massive rallies were held in several European, Asian, and Latin American capitals on Friday in support of Palestine and in condemnation of Israel’s aggressive raids on the Gaza-bound Global Samud Flotilla.

Since October 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza, at least 460 Palestinians, including 154 children, have died of hunger as Israel continues to starve the besieged population.

Meanwhile, the ongoing war has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women and children.

Source: Press TV