Tel Aviv, Israel - Israel said it deported on Monday 171 more activists who were illegally detained while taking part in an aid flotilla bound for Gaza, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

It added that the deportees were citizens of several countries, including the US, Greece, Italy, and France.

Photos shared with the post showed Thunberg alongside two other women walking through Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport wearing the gray tracksuits used in Israeli prisons.

The Israeli foreign ministry told AFP that 138 activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla were still in Israeli custody.

The 45-vessel flotilla had been aiming to break an illegal Israeli blockade to deliver aid to Gaza, where famine has taken hold and experts believe genocide is underway.

Israel started intercepting the flotilla vessels in international waters – where it has no jurisdiction – on Wednesday. An Israeli official said on Thursday that boats with more than 400 people on board had been prevented from reaching the Palestinian territory, where the mass killing of civilians continues.

The interception of the humanitarian mission sparked massive protests all over the world.

International activists who arrived in Istanbul after being deported from Israel said on Saturday they had been subjected to violence and "treated like animals," with Thunberg allegedly singled for particularly harsh treatment.