We were kidnapped in international waters: Thunberg

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said yesterday she was kidnapped in international waters by Israeli forces as she arrived in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport after being deported from Israel.

"We were kidnapped in international waters," she told reporters at her arrival in Paris. Thunberg, 22, arrived in Paris a day after the Israeli navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza.

Activist Greta Thunberg and crew stand aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this picture released on June 2, 2025 on social media. File photo: Reuters

Israeli forces boarded the charity vessel as it neared Gaza early on Monday, trying to break through a years-old naval blockade of the coastal enclave, and seized the 12-strong crew, including Thunberg.

Thunberg was put on a flight to France, the Israeli foreign ministry said, adding that she would travel on to Sweden from there.

Meanwhile, Israeli gunfire killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded dozens as thousands of displaced people approached an aid distribution site of a US-backed humanitarian group in central Gaza yesterday, local health authorities said.

Medics said the casualties were rushed at two hospitals, the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, and the Al-Quds in Gaza City, in the north.

The Israeli military said they are looking into the incident. Last week it warned Palestinians not to approach routes leading to sites of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am local time, describing these roads as closed military zones.

Many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start travelling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food.

While the GHF has said there have been no incidents at its so-called secure distribution sites, Palestinians seeking aid have described disorder, and access routes to the sites have been beset by chaos and deadly violence.

The Israeli military called for residents to evacuate several neighbourhoods in northern Gaza, after it said it had intercepted a projectile fired from the Palestinian territory, reports AFP.

Later yesterday, local health authorities said an Israeli strike on a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip killed eight people, taking yesterday's death toll to at least 25.

The Al-Amal Hospital in Gaza, one of the few still operating in the Palestinian territory, is now "virtually out of service" due to intense military activity, the head of the WHO said Monday evening.

"Access to the hospital is obstructed, preventing new patients from reaching care, and leading to more preventable deaths," the World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X.