The passengers of the ship De Madleen had arrived earlier on Tuesday at Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, “to leave from Israel and return to their home country,” reported the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on X.
The people on board were given the opportunity to leave Israel voluntarily. According to the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, one of the French on board has done that, he does not mention a name. According to him, the other five enter a deportation procedure.
Israël hand out extra sneer to vegan Greta Thunberg: prevent PR drama, but problems are not over yet
The ship of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that was on its way to Gaza with emergency aid was commissioned by the Israeli navy in the night from Sunday to Monday to change course to the coast of Israel. On board the activist ship there were twelve people on board, including the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and the Dutch captain Mark van Rennes.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday morning in a statement that the ‘show of the selfie boat’ is over. The journey was primarily a PR stunt: there were few relief supplies on board, only one percent of what now comes in Gaza.
That does not alter the fact that there are a huge number of problems with assistance via the new system that Israel has introduced. Every once in a while, the distribution centers must close because of violence by Israeli soldiers, threats from Hamas or mass storming by civilians.