Pakistan, Oct. 7 -- Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in Athens after being deported from Israel where a Gaza-bound aid flotilla she was part of was intercepted by Israeli naval forces.

She was among 171 foreign activists who Israel says have been deported over the past 24 hours. They were detained on Thursday when their flotilla tried to breach Israel's naval blockade of Gaza.

Israel's foreign ministry said they were flown to Greece and Slovakia, and that Greek, Slovakian, French, Italian, British and US citizens were among them.

Television pictures showed Thunberg being welcomed at Athens airport by a crowd of people, some waving Palestinian flags.

Organisers of the flotilla said their goal was to "break the illegal siege ...