Climate activist Greta Thunberg has reportedly told Swedish officials that she is being held in a bug-infested cell with little food or water and is being forced to hold Israeli flags for photos.
The 22-year-old activist was one of the 437 activists, parliamentarians and lawyers who set out from Europe to deliver aid to Gaza by ending Israel’s 16-year maritime blockade of the enclave as part of the Gaza Sumud Flotilla which was intercepted by Israel between Wednesday and Friday.
While a total of of 137 deportees, including 36 Turkish nationals and activists from the United States, Italy, Malaysia Kuwait, Switzerland, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan and other countries, arrived in Istanbul on Saturday, many are still being held in the Ansar III prison, a high-security facility in Israel’s Negev desert. The prison is ordinarily used to hold Palestinian security prisoners accused of involvement in terrorist activities.
According to Swedish foreign ministry officials who spoke to people close to the activist, Thunberg spoke of her harsh treatment at the hands of the Israelis.
An email sent by officials, according to the Guardian, reads: ‘The embassy has been able to meet with Greta. She informed of dehydration. She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food.
‘She also stated that she had developed rashes which she suspects were caused by bedbugs. She spoke of harsh treatment and said she had been sitting for long periods on hard surfaces.’
‘Another detainee reportedly told another embassy that they had seen her [Thunberg] being forced to hold flags while pictures were taken. She wondered whether images of her had been distributed,’ the Swedish ministry’s official reportedly added.
Many of the international activists deported from Israel have also accused Israeli forces of mistreating Greta Thunberg.
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Ersin Celik, a Turkish journalist who participated in the Gaza Sumud Flotilla, told local media that he saw Israeli forces “torture Greta Thunberg,” detailing how she was “dragged on the ground” and “forced to kiss the Israeli flag.”
At Istanbul Airport, other activists echoed these claims, alleging that Thunberg was pushed around and paraded with an Israeli flag. Malaysian activist Hazwani Helmi described the experience as a disaster, stating, “It was a disaster. They treated us like animals,” and added that detainees were denied food, clean water, and medication.
Italian journalist Lorenzo Agostino, who was also on the flotilla, spoke about Thunberg’s treatment. “Greta Thunberg, a brave woman, is only 22 years old. She was humiliated and wrapped in an Israeli flag and exhibited like a trophy,” he told Anadolu.
Israel’s foreign ministry said the claims of mistreatment were ‘brazen lies’.
In a statement on social media, the ministry said all detainees’ legal rights had been ‘fully upheld’, adding that Ms Thunberg had not complained about the ‘ludicrous and baseless allegations – because they never occurred’.
The Gaza Sumud Flotilla, launched in late August, represented the latest international attempt to break Israel’s siege and deliver aid to Palestinians.
Adalah, an Israeli human rights group providing legal assistance, reported that detainees claimed they were forced to kneel for hours with their hands bound by zip ties, denied access to medication, and barred from contacting their lawyers. These allegations were dismissed as “complete lies,” by Israel’s foreign ministry, which insisted that all detainees were treated according to the law.
Over 200 journalists and media workers have lost their lives in Gaza since October 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports. Israel has simultaneously blocked independent journalists from entering the enclave to confirm their assertions.
“All of Adalah’s claims are complete lies. Of course, all detainees … were given access to water, food, and restrooms; they were not denied access to legal counsel, and all their legal rights were fully upheld,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told the news agency Reuters.