The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said 12 passengers, including Thunberg, set sail from the Italian port of Catania earlier this month, carrying a “symbolic” amount of aid toward Gaza.

The organization said the Madleen was “attacked” and “forcibly intercepted” by the Israeli military in international waters at 3:02 a.m. CET on Monday (9:02 p.m. Sunday ET).

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said on Monday the Israeli military had carried out a “quick and safe takeover” over the protest vessel, stopping the Madleen from reaching Gaza and “breaking the blockade.”

The previous day, Katz said he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “take whatever measures are necessary” to stop the protest flotilla and, in a statement published early local time on Tuesday, Israel’s foreign ministry said The Madleen‘s passengers had arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.

The Israeli government said the protesters would leave the country “within the next few hours,” while those who refused to sign deportation documents would be “brought before a judicial authority.” Representatives of the protesters’ home countries met the activists at the airport, the foreign ministry said.
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A photo published by the Israeli foreign ministry on Tuesday of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Israel said it had deported Thunberg and other pro-Palestinian activists on flights from Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
 Israel Foreign Ministry/X

France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said his consul met with the six French nationals “arrested by the Israeli authorities,” but said only one of the protesters had agreed to leave Israel voluntarily.

“The other five will be subject to a forced expulsion process,” Barrot said. The minister did not identify the French nationals by name, which include Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.

Israel’s foreign ministry posted images of Thunberg onboard what appears to be a commercial aircraft. The Swedish climate activist left Tel Aviv on a flight bound for Sweden via France, the Israeli government said.

The Israeli government had described the Madleen, which arrived at the Israeli port of Ashdod on Monday, as a “selfie yacht.”