The environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg has told Swedish officials she is being subjected to harsh treatment in Israeli custody after her detention and removal from a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, according to correspondence seen by the Guardian.
In an email sent by the Swedish foreign ministry, an official who visited Thunberg in prison said she claimed she was detained in a cell infested with bedbugs, with too little food and water. “She informed of dehydration. She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food,” the email reads, adding that she had developed rashes suspected to be caused by bedbugs and had sat for long periods on hard surfaces.
Another detainee reportedly told the Swedish embassy that Thunberg was forced to hold flags while pictures were taken, though the identity of the flags is unknown. The allegation was corroborated by at least two other flotilla members. Turkish activist Ersin Çelik told Anadolu agency that Thunberg was dragged by her hair and forced to kiss the Israeli flag, while journalist Lorenzo D’Agostino said she was “wrapped in the Israeli flag and paraded like a trophy”.
Thunberg is among 437 activists detained after Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud flotilla, a coalition of over 40 vessels attempting to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza. Most are being held at Ketziot prison in the Negev desert. Lawyers from the NGO Adalah said the rights of crew members have been “systematically violated”, with denial of water, sanitation, medication and legal representation. During a visit to Ashdod, Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was filmed calling the activists “terrorists”.
