When they saw what it was about, they refused to continue watching,” said Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz.

Activist Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel after a brief detention following her attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Shortly after their arrests, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the nonprofit that has staged dozens of efforts to reach Gaza to protest Israel, posted prerecorded videos on X showing the crew members saying that they had been “kidnapped.” They called on their home governments to put pressure on Israel to release them.