Greta Thunberg Has Been Released — What Happened to Her Fellow Passengers?
The 22-year-old was on a boat with other activists trying to deliver aid to Gaza.
Published June 10 2025, 2:13 p.m. ET
On June 7, 2025, Greta Thunberg was among several activists who boarded a boat named Madleen, which was traveling to Israel to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip. The boat was used by the organization known as the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which was trying to circumvent the Israeli blockade to deliver some much needed supplies to the people of Gaza.
However, the boat never reached its destination. Instead, Greta and 11 other passengers were captured by Israeli forces.
Has Greta Thunberg been released? And what happened to the other passengers and the aid they were carrying to the people who so desperately need help? You'll have to continue reading to find out.
Has Greta Thunberg been released?
Greta Thunberg spoke to reporters on June 10, 2025, detailing what she calls her kidnapping at sea. According to Reuters, Greta answered questions in the middle of the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris after she was freed.
Her arrival at the French airport happened one day after the Israeli navy intercepted her boat and kept her and the other activists on board from reaching their destination.
An unhappy Greta criticized the Israeli troops while speaking with reporters.
"I was very clear in my testimony that we were kidnapped on international waters and brought against our own will into Israel," she said of the incident. Eight of the people who were onboard the boat with Greta remained behind in Israel after they refused to sign the paperwork that would allow the country to deport them.
Sky News says that those activists will remain in the country in a detention center until such time as their case can be reviewed by authorities.
Greta Thunberg has been deported.
While we usually think of deportation being something that happens as part of a long and lengthy legal process, the 22-year-old was allowed to quickly leave the country because she signed deportation papers that would allow her to skip the judicial review, according to NBC News.
The Israel Foreign Ministry released a statement after her release, posting the details on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Calling the boat the "Selfie Yacht," the ministry said that the people who signed deportation documents were expedited through the system before being flown out of the country, where they were met with consuls from their home country.
According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the people who remain behind are Suayb Ordu, Mark van Rennes, Pascal Maurieras, Reva Viard, Rima Hassan, Thiago Avila, Yanis Mhamdi, Yasemin Acar, and Omar Faid.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said through a post on their website that they have encouraged the remaining passengers to sign the documents needed to expedite their deportation like Thunberg did, if only so that they can "restore access to communication" with the group. Until they do, they will continue to be remanded to a detention center until such time that they are able to appear before a tribunal.
While legal counsel will be permitted to argue on their behalf, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition has expressed concerns about the right of due process in Israel, and the organization has questioned whether or not any of the 10,400 Palestinians they say have been held captive in Israeli dungeons are given the same courtesy.
Only time will tell what will happen to the rest of the activists, but for now, Greta has been released and is hard at work planning her next steps.