Greta Thunberg lands in Greece among expelled Gaza flotilla activists

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks during a news conference ahead of the launch of a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Hernan Munoz)

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg landed in Greece on Monday alongside scores of fellow campaigners expelled from Israel after trying to ship aid to Gaza, AFP journalists saw.

The 22-year-old climate campaigner was one of hundreds of people who had boarded a flotilla that tried to break through an Israeli blockade of the war-stricken territory.

Thunberg and 160 others landed at Athens International Airport, where crowds of activists welcomed them.

She called the Global Sumud Flotilla “the biggest ever attempt to break Israel’s illegal and inhumane siege by sea”.

“That this mission has to exist is a shame,” she added, urging the world to act to prevent Israel’s “genocide” of the Palestinians.

“We are not even seeing the bare minimum from our governments,” Thunberg said.

Activists unfurled a huge Palestinian flag in the arrivals hall and chanted: “Freedom for Palestine” and “Long live the flotilla!”

Parliamentarian ‘beaten’

One of those landing in Greece, Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament, reported having been hit by Israeli police after the flotilla was intercepted.

“I was beaten by two police officers when they put me in the van,” she told AFP.

Hassan said she and other detainees were kept in groups of up to 15 per cell on mattresses in a high-security Israeli prison.

The Greek foreign ministry said the “special repatriation flight” that landed in Athens carried 27 Greeks and 134 other nationals from 15 European countries.

Israel’s foreign ministry said on Monday it had deported 171 activists overall to Greece and Slovakia.

Bratislava’s foreign ministry confirmed that one Slovak had returned to the central European country, along with nine other people from the Netherlands, Canada and the United States.

The flotilla departed from Barcelona in Spain in early September and was intercepted by the Israeli navy off Egypt last week.

Israel has branded the flotilla an offshoot of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that it is battling to destroy in Gaza.

It said the boats violated a prohibited zone and that little humanitarian aid was found on board the vessels.

Israeli police said more than 470 people aboard the flotilla boats were arrested.

Israel’s foreign ministry told AFP that 138 flotilla participants remained in detention in Israel.