Newly revealed Swedish diplomatic correspondence shows Greta Thunberg reported harsh treatment, deprivation, and humiliation while detained by Israel after joining the Gaza aid flotilla.
The environmental activist Greta Thunberg has told Swedish officials she was subjected to harsh and degrading treatment while in Israeli custody following her detention aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, according to internal correspondence obtained by The Guardian.
According to the newspaper, a Swedish foreign ministry official who visited Thunberg in prison said the 22-year-old described being held in a cell infested with bedbugs, with inadequate food and water.
The official’s email, seen by The Guardian, read: “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.”
Your suffering and the attempts to silence your voice for Gaza and its children will never be forgotten.
Your brave stance will remain a symbol in our hearts and minds forever.
From the heart of Gaza, we say: we love you ❤️
We stand with you, Greta Thunberg 🌍🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/iVFTBtNUHU— Mohammed jawad 🇵🇸 (@Mo7ammed_jawad6) October 5, 2025
The correspondence also cites reports that Israeli forces took photographs in which Thunberg was forced to hold flags, though the identity of the flags was not specified. “Another detainee reportedly told another embassy that they had seen her (Thunberg) being forced to hold flags while pictures were taken,” the official wrote.
Several activists have corroborated the account. Turkish participant Ersin Çelik told the Anadolu news agency: “They dragged little Greta by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others.”
Italian journalist Lorenzo D’Agostino, who was also aboard the flotilla, described witnessing Thunberg being “wrapped in the Israeli flag and paraded like a trophy.”
The 22-year-old Swedish campaigner was among 437 activists, parliamentarians, and lawyers participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla, a coalition of more than 40 vessels attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and challenge Israel’s 16-year naval blockade of the besieged territory.
Greta Thunberg:
‘There is a genocide’
‘Where is the world media to expose it’
‘Where is media to call out Palestinian 🇵🇸 journalists being murdered’
‘World leaders and institutions are enabling a genocide’‘None of us are free until Palestine🇵🇸 is free’pic.twitter.com/iK7lfylkT2
— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) October 5, 2025
Between Thursday and Friday, Israeli forces intercepted all the boats and arrested every crew member. Most detainees are being held at Ketziot Prison — also known as Ansar III — a high-security facility in the Naqab desert primarily used to hold Palestinians accused by Israel of security offenses.
According to The Guardian, the NGO Adalah said the detainees’ rights had been “systematically violated,” citing denial of water, sanitation, medical treatment, and immediate access to lawyers — “in clear breach of their fundamental rights to due process, impartial trial and legal representation.”
The flotilla’s Italian legal team similarly reported that detainees were left “for hours without food or water – until late last night,” except for “a packet of crisps handed to Greta and shown to the cameras.” Lawyers described instances of both verbal and physical abuse.
On Thursday night, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was filmed visiting the port of Ashdod, where the detained activists were held. In the footage, Ben-Gvir pointed toward dozens of detainees sitting on the ground, calling them “terrorists of the flotilla.” His office confirmed the video’s authenticity.
“I'm not scared of Israel. I’m scared of a world that has seemingly lost all sense of humanity.”
– Greta Thunberg 🔥pic.twitter.com/jhK4VC2LPN
— ADAM (@AdameMedia) October 2, 2025
Adalah noted that in previous flotilla cases, Israel had not criminally prosecuted activists but treated their presence as an immigration matter, leading to brief detentions followed by deportation.
Baptiste André, a French doctor who had taken part in a similar flotilla in June, told reporters that he witnessed Israeli border agents mock and deliberately deprive passengers — including Thunberg — of sleep.
The Swedish foreign ministry confirmed that its embassy had visited nine detained citizens on Friday. “Based on discussions with detained individuals, the importance of addressing individual medical needs was also emphasised,” the ministry said, adding that it had stressed the need for clean water, adequate food, and access to legal counsel.
Israel’s embassy, responding to The Guardian, denied all allegations. “All detainees from the Hamas-Sumud provocation were given access to water, food and toilets; they were not denied access to legal counsel, and all their legal rights, including access to medical care, were fully upheld,” the statement claimed.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
The young Swedish woman, Greta Thunberg, who became internationally famous for her demonstration against man-made global temperature rise, is being imprisoned and tortured by Israel.
Reliable witnesses have reported seeing her dragged by the hair, beaten, wrapped in an Israeli flag, (which she was forced to kiss!), and dumped in a cell infested with bed bugs.
Greta and the flotilla crew were attempting to get food, baby formula, water and medicines to the people of Gaza in Palestine. Our administration… Starmer, Lammey and the rest … have been SUPPORTING ISRAEL DESPITE THE GENOCIDE THEY ARE COMMITTING ON THE PALESTINIANS.
‘None of us are free until Palestine🇵🇸 is free’ – How true this is!
the mongrels must have been itching to kill them – but wouldn’t dare ! Self preservation is strong in these miscreants by the looks of it.