Allegations that she spent hours on hard surfaces in an Israeli jail, infested with bedbugs and lacking sufficient food and water, have been dismissed by Israel’s Foreign Ministry as “brazen lies.”
Correspondence from the Swedish Foreign Ministry, which was reviewed by , indicates Thunberg informed officials about developing rashes, potentially due to bedbugs.
The activist reportedly also raised concerns about dehydration.
A letter, reportedly shared with Thunberg’s parents, stated that she characterized her treatment as “harsh and exhausting” following her detention by Israeli forces during her participation in the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla aid expedition.
An spokesperson, in a statement posted Sunday on X, asserted that all detainees’ “legal rights were fully upheld.”
They maintained that Thunberg “did not complain to Israeli authorities about any of these ludicrous and baseless allegations because they never occurred.”
The additionally labeled the reports “brazen lies” and stressed that detainees were provided with food, water, legal counsel, and medical attention.
According to local media reports, court documents from an Oct. 5 hearing before Israel’s Population and Migration Tribunal seem to corroborate the official version of events, indicating she sought deportation to Sweden but lodged no formal complaint of mistreatment during her time in custody.
In a separate post on X, the ministry reported that a Spanish detainee from Thunberg’s Flotilla allegedly bit a female medical staff member at Ketziot Prison.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir characterized the flotilla participants as “supporters of terrorism,” stating his “pride that they experienced the same conditions as terrorist detainees.”
Thunberg, aged 22, was one of approximately 450 activists from over a dozen nations who were detained after the Israeli navy intercepted the 42-boat Global Sumud Flotilla on October 1.
The convoy, having departed from Turkey the previous day, aimed to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza and provide symbolic humanitarian aid.
Other activists, including Turkish journalist and flotilla participant Ersin Çelik, informed Anadolu Agency that guards “dragged little Greta by her hair, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag.”
Digital contacted both the Swedish Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Foreign Ministry for their comments.