Brazil said Tuesday 13 of its citizens detained by Israel on a Gaza aid flotilla were on their way home.
The group, including lawmaker Luizianne Lins of the ruling Workers鈥� Party, 鈥榳ere taken to the border with Jordan and released,鈥� Brasilia鈥檚 foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month, ferrying politicians and activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg towards Gaza, where the United Nations says famine is taking hold.
Israel, which has tightened a blockade on Gaza during its war on Hamas, intercepted some 45 small boats and detained more than 470 people 聽last week.
鈥楢fter six days of illegal imprisonment in Israel, the 13 Brazilians of the Sumud Global Flotilla are finally free,鈥� Lins wrote on Instagram.
The same day, as 171 flotilla passengers arrived in Athens following deportation from Israel, one activist claimed they had been 鈥榯reated like animals鈥� during detention.
Israel denied the allegation and insisted that the legal rights of the detainees were fully respected.
Thunberg and 160 others landed at Athens International Airport, where crowds of activists welcomed them.
She called the Global Sumud Flotilla 鈥榯he biggest ever attempt to break Israel鈥檚 illegal and inhumane siege by sea鈥�.
鈥楾hat this mission has to exist is a shame,鈥� she added, urging the world to act to prevent Israel鈥檚 鈥榞enocide鈥� of the Palestinians.
鈥榃e are not even seeing the bare minimum from our governments,鈥� Thunberg said.
Activists unfurled a huge Palestinian flag in the arrivals hall and chanted: 鈥楩reedom for Palestine鈥� and 鈥楲ong live the flotilla!鈥�
One of those landing in Greece, Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament, reported having been hit by Israeli police after the flotilla was intercepted.
鈥業 was beaten by two police officers when they put me in the van,鈥� she said.
Hassan said she and other detainees were kept in groups of up to 15 per cell on mattresses in a high-security Israeli prison.
Yasmin Acar, a member of the flotilla鈥檚 steering committee, said the detainees were 鈥榯reated like animals鈥� and 鈥榯errorists鈥�.
鈥榃e were physically assaulted, we were deprived of sleep,鈥� Acar said.
鈥榃e did not have any clean water. The first 48 hours, there was no food, no water at all.鈥�
The Greek foreign ministry said the 鈥榮pecial repatriation flight鈥� that landed in Athens carried 27 Greeks and 134 other nationals from 15 European countries.
Israel鈥檚 foreign ministry said on Monday it had deported 171 activists overall to Greece and Slovakia.
Bratislava鈥檚 foreign ministry confirmed that one Slovak had returned to the central European country, along with nine other people from the Netherlands, Canada and the United States.
The flotilla departed from Barcelona in Spain in early September and was intercepted by the Israeli navy off Egypt last week.
Israel has branded the flotilla an offshoot of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that it is battling to destroy in Gaza.
It said the boats violated a prohibited zone and that little humanitarian aid was found on board the vessels.
Israeli police said more than 470 people aboard the flotilla boats were arrested.
Israel鈥檚 foreign ministry said that 138 flotilla participants remained in detention in Israel.
