LONDON: Greta Thunberg has told Swedish officials she is being subjected to harsh treatment while in Israeli custody following her detention aboard a Gaza aid flotilla, according to a report in The Guardian.
In correspondence seen by the British newspaper and published on Saturday, the Swedish climate activist said she was being held in a cell “infested with bedbugs” and given too little food and water.
An email from the Swedish foreign ministry said embassy officials had been in contact with Greta, the report said.
“She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food,” it said.
“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.”
The email, sent by the ministry to people close to Thunberg, said: “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 email said Thunberg had also been asked by Israeli authorities to sign a document.
“She expressed uncertainty about what the document meant and did not want to sign anything she did not understand,” it said, adding that she had had access to legal counsel.
Thunberg is one of 437 people detained as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a coalition of more than 40 vessels that sought to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza.
Israeli forces intercepted the boats and detained their crews on Thursday night and into Friday morning. Most are reportedly being held at Ketziot, a high-security prison in the Negev desert used primarily for Palestinian prisoners.
According to The Guardian, lawyers from the nongovernmental organization Adalah said the rights of the detainees had been “systematically violated” and that they had been denied water, sanitation, medication and immediate access to their legal representatives “in clear breach of their fundamental rights to due process, impartial trial and legal representation.”
The Italian legal team representing the flotilla said detainees had been 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 also reported instances of verbal and physical abuse.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was filmed on Thursday night during a visit to Ashdod port calling the activists “terrorists” as they sat on the ground.
“These are the terrorists of the flotilla,” he said in Hebrew, according to the report.
A spokesperson for Ben-Gvir, who has previously called for flotilla participants to be jailed rather than deported, confirmed the video was filmed at the port. Some activists could be heard shouting: “Free Palestine” in the clip.
Adalah said in an earlier statement that repeat participants in flotilla missions were typically treated the same as first-time activists, facing short-term detention and deportation rather than prosecution.
The Guardian said it had contacted the Israel Prison Service, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Foreign Ministry for comment, but none had responded.
