Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday denied claims that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and others detained aboard the Hamas-linked Gaza flotilla have been mistreated in custody since their on Oct. 2 arrests.
Denouncing reports claiming Thunberg was detained in a cell infested with bedbugs with too little food and water as “brazen lies,” Jerusalem said “all the detainees’ legal rights are fully upheld” at Ketziot Prison.
“Interestingly enough, Greta herself and other detainees refused to expedite their deportation and insisted on prolonging their stay in custody,” according to Sunday’s Foreign Ministry statement.
In correspondence sent by the Swedish Foreign Ministry to people close to Thunberg, and seen by The Guardian, an embassy official who visited the activist said she claimed to have been mistreated in Israel, including by being forced to hold flags. The identity of the flags remained unclear.
Jerusalem’s Foreign Ministry noted on Sunday that Thunberg “did not complain to the Israeli authorities about any of these ludicrous and baseless allegations—because they never occurred.”
In a previous statement on Saturday, Jerusalem said that while it sought to expedite proceedings to expedite all some 500 participants who were arrested off the coast of Gaza late last week, some have deliberately obstructed the legal process, “preferring instead to linger in Israel.”
“At the same time, several foreign governments have shown reluctance to accept flights that would return these provocateurs,” it said, adding that the remaining activists would be deported as swiftly as possible.
Over the weekend, Israel deported 137 flotilla participants to Turkey.
The activists “made it clear—through their actions, their rejection of all proposals by Israel, Italy and Greece to peacefully transfer the aid, and the small quantity of aid they actually carried on their boats—that their true goal was provocation in the service of Hamas,” Jerusalem stated.
The Israeli military revealed on Friday that the Oct. 2-3 operation, which involved several Navy units, including Flotilla 13 (Shayetet in Hebrew) commandos, missile boats and the Snapir protection and harbor security unit, entailed the interception of 42 flotilla vessels.
The declared objective of the Global Sumud Flotilla—sumud meaning “steadfastness” in Arabic—was to “to break the illegal siege on Gaza by sea, open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide.”
Jerusalem maintains that its naval blockade on the enclave, imposed on Jan. 3, 2009, is compatible with international law. It aims to prevent weapons, terrorists and funds from entering or exiting Gaza by sea.
In June, Israel blocked another flotilla to the coastal enclave. Thunberg, who also participated in that flotilla, was returned to Stockholm and, along with 11 others, banned from the Jewish state for 100 years.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose office oversees the Israel Prison Service, stated on Sunday he “went to visit Ketziot Prison, and I was proud that we treat the ‘flotilla activists’ as terror supporters.
“Whoever supports terrorism is a terrorist and deserves the conditions of terrorists,” the minister said. “I am proud of the Israel Prison Service officers who acted in accordance with the policy outlined by IPS Chief Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi and myself. I was on their ships; I saw no aid and no humanitarianism.”
