The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Sunday dismissed allegations of 'mistreating' Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg during detention as 'ludicrous and baseless'. In a statement, the ministry said that the claims from the Hamas–Sumud flotilla are 'brazen lies' and that all detainees were guaranteed full legal rights. The Israeli ministry further added that she herself insisted on extending the stay during their time in custody.
"The claims regarding the mistreatment of Greta Thunberg and other detainees from the Hamas–Sumud flotilla are brazen lies. All the detainees’ legal rights are fully upheld. Interestingly enough, Greta herself and other detainees refused to expedite their deportation and insisted on prolonging their stay in custody. Greta also did not complain to the Israeli authorities about any of these ludicrous and baseless allegations - because they never occurred," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
---Advertisement---
---Advertisement---
This comes after Israel deported 137 activists to Turkey on Saturday after capturing them on international waters. They were detained while taking part in a flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza. Two activists, Hazwani Helmi from Malaysia and Windfield Beaver from the United States, told Reuters that they witnessed the harsh mistreatment of Greta, who was "shoved and forced to wear an Israeli flag."
The flotilla activists further claimed that the detainees were 'treated like animals and were denied clean food and water. Moreover, their belongings and medicines were also seized.
ALSO READ: Israeli strikes kill 70 in Gaza despite Trump’s call to ‘immediately stop bombing’