161 Gaza aid flotilla detainees land in Greece

Bangla Press Desk: Greece's foreign ministry said 161 nationals from 16 European countries landed in Athens on Monday after being expelled by Israel for taking part in a Gaza aid flotilla.

Israel on Monday deported more activists who were on the flotilla bound for the devastated Palestinian territory, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The 45-vessel flotilla had been aiming to break an Israeli blockade to deliver aid to Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has taken hold after two years of devastating conflict.

"A special repatriation flight landed safely in Athens carrying the 27 Greek citizens who took part in the 'Global Sumud Flotilla'," the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.

"This flight also facilitated the return of 134 nationals from 15 European countries," it added, without elaborating.

According to the Swedish branch of the Global Movement for Gaza, the deported Swedish nationals were on board the flight.

At Athens International Airport, activists unfurled a huge Palestinian flag in the arrivals hall and chanted "Freedom for Palestine" and "Long live the flotilla!", AFP reporters saw.

The Global Sumud flotilla departed from Barcelona in Spain in early September.

The vessels were boarded by the Israeli navy off Egypt and the Gaza Strip between October 1 and 3.

Israel, which accuses the flotilla of being an offshoot of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement with which it has been at war for two years in the Gaza Strip, claims that the boats violated a prohibited zone and that no humanitarian aid was found on board the vessels.

The ships were forcibly diverted to the Israeli port of Ashdod. According to Israeli police, more than 470 people aboard the flotilla boats were arrested.

The first deportations began on 2 October and currently 138 flotilla participants remain in detention in Israel, the foreign ministry told AFP. This article was originally published on Daily Sun.

BP/ZE