PARIS/TUNIS: Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday accused the Zionist entity of “kidnapping us in international waters and taking us against our will to (the Zionist entity)” after security forces intercepted a boat carrying humanitarian aid bound for Gaza. “This is yet another intentional violation of rights that is added to the list of countless other violations that (the Zionist entity) is committing,” Thunberg, 22, told reporters on arrival at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris after being deported from the Zionist entity.

She stressed that her own experience was “nothing compared to what the Palestinians are going through”. Of the 12 people on board the Madleen carrying food and supplies for Gaza, five French activists were taken into custody after they refused to leave the Zionist entity voluntarily. But Thunberg, who rose to fame as a schoolgirl activist against climate change and seeks to avoid flying because of its environmental impact, was deported by the Zionist entity on a commercial flight of national airline El Al bound for Paris.

“This is not the real story. The real story is there is a genocide going on in Gaza and systematic starvation,” said Thunberg. Several rights groups including Amnesty International have accused the Zionist entity of genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza. The vessel carrying French, German, Brazilian, Turkish, Swedish, Spanish and Dutch activists had the stated aim of delivering humanitarian aid and breaking the Zionist blockade on the Palestinian territory.

The Zionist entity intercepted the Madleen about 185 km west of the coast of Gaza. Thunberg said what happened to the vessel was a “continuation and violation of international law and war crimes that are being systematically committed by (the Zionist entity) by not letting aid in” to Gaza. “This was a mission of attempting to once again bring aid to Gaza and send solidarity. And saw we cannot,” she said.

She also denounced what she termed the “silence and passivity” of governments worldwide over what was taking place in Gaza. “There are no words to describe the betrayal that is happening every day by our own governments,” she said. Admitting she was “desperately in need of a shower”, Thunberg vowed to carry on her campaign. “We will not stop. We will try every single day to demand an end to the atrocities (the Zionist entity) is carrying out”.

Four French activists who were also aboard the Madleen were set to face a Zionistjudge, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. He had earlier posted on X that five would face court action and only one would depart voluntarily. Barrot told reporters that French diplomats had met with the six French nationals in the Zionist entity, and that French-Palestinian European MP Rima Hassan was among those who refused to leave voluntarily.

Meanwhile, hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists taking part in a convoy crossed the Tunisian border on Tuesday into Libya, aiming to keep heading eastwards until they break the Zionist blockade on the Palestinian territory, organizers said. The “Soumoud” convoy, meaning “steadfastness” in Arabic, set off from Tunis on Monday morning, spokesman Ghassen Henchiri told Tunisian radio station Mosaique FM.

He said it includes 14 buses and around 100 other vehicles, carrying hundreds of people. Convoy members were heard chanting “Resistance, resistance” and “To Gaza we go by the millions” in a video posted on the organizing group’s official Facebook page. Henchiri also told Jawhara FM radio channel the convoy plans to remain in Libya for “three or four days at most” before crossing into Egypt and continuing on to Rafah.

Organizers have said Egyptian authorities have not yet provided passage to enter the country, but Henchiri said the convoy received “reassuring” information. Organizers said the convoy was not bringing aid into Gaza, but rather aimed at carrying out a “symbolic act” by breaking the blockade on the territory described by the United Nations as “the hungriest place on Earth”. Algerian, Mauritanian, Moroccan and Libyan activists were also among the group, which is set to travel along the Libyan coast. – Agencies