Israel deports over 170 Sumud Flotilla activists 

Israel deported 171 Global Sumud Flotilla activists, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on October 6, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.

"All the legal rights of the participants in this PR stunt were and will continue to be fully upheld. The lies they are spreading are part of their pre-planned fake news campaign," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.

The deportees are citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the UK, Serbia, and the U.S.

The Global Sumud Flotilla (which translates from Arabic as "resistance"), consisting of more than 40 ships from different countries, set sail from Tunisia towards Gaza in mid-September. The mission's goal was to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian aid to its residents.

Israeli authorities repeatedly stated that they considered the activists' actions to be provocative and would not allow their ships to approach the Gaza coast. As a result, Israeli Navy ships intercepted the flotilla, detaining all 400 activists and taking them to the Israeli coast. On October 3, Israeli authorities began deporting the activists, expelling a total of 170 flotilla participants from the country within three days.