Speaking to reporters at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, the Swedish campaigner stressed that she and others on a Gaza-bound ship<\/a> intercepted by Israel on Monday had simply been attempting to bring much-needed aid to the war-torn territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were 12 peaceful volunteers sailing on a civilian ship carrying humanitarian aid on international waters,\u201d Thunberg said. \u201cWe did not break laws. We did nothing wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The UK-flagged Madleen vessel was seized by Israeli authorities<\/a> on Monday about 125 miles (200km) off the coast of Gaza, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organised the voyage. It was towed to the port of Ashdod, where the crew, which also included the French MEP Rima Hassan, were taken into police custody. Some remain in Israel, where they will face deportation hearings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ship had been attempting to bring a symbolic shipment of aid to Gaza, which has been pushed to the brink of famine<\/a> after more than 11 weeks of total siege and severe restrictions that continue to limit the entry of food into the territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dozens of people have been killed<\/a> while trying to collect food from the handful of sites run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which are secured by armed guards and under the protection of the Israeli military. As the prospect of famine looms, questions have swirled over the foundation\u2019s capacity to deliver aid<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thunberg, 22, said on Tuesday that the conditions the crew had faced were \u201cabsolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now\u201d, but said she was \u201cvery worried\u201d about her fellow crew members and called for their immediate release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was very clear in my testimony that we were kidnapped on international waters and brought against our own will into Israel<\/a>,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is yet another intentional violation of rights that is added to the list of countless other violations that Israel is committing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The stance was echoed by Sergio Toribio, a fellow crew member who was deported to Spain on Tuesday. \u201cIt is unforgivable, it is a violation of our rights. It is a pirate attack in international waters,\u201d he told reporters after arriving in Barcelona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amnesty International also weighed in, with the organisation\u2019s secretary general noting that the interception of the Madleen in international waters \u201cviolates international law\u201d. In a statement, Agn\u00e8s Callamard added: \u201cThe crew were unarmed activists and human rights defenders on a humanitarian mission, they must be released immediately and unconditionally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since Israel imposed a naval blockade on Gaza in 2007, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition have made several attempts to carry aid to Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In May, one of their Gaza-bound ships was damaged<\/a> in international waters off Malta, with crew members issuing an SOS after what they described as an attack by Israeli drones. Israel\u2019s military declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2010, nine activists were killed<\/a> when Israeli commandos raided a small fleet of ships trying to ferry supplies, including building materials, to Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thunberg said she hadn\u2019t been able to say goodbye to the rest of the crew, and that it was \u201cunclear\u201d why she had been deported while other crew members remained detained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing several of the crew members, said eight other passengers had refused deportation and were being held in detention as they waited for their cases to be heard by Israeli authorities<\/p>\n\n\n\n The crew had previously been disparaged by Israeli officials, with the foreign ministry labelling the vessel as the \u201cselfie yacht\u201d when it announced its seizure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Israeli](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a0b8074d9e5fd0858788be430ed9341b8fe856b4\/0_0_2048_1152\/2048.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none\")