Greta Thunberg’s alleged jail complaints called ‘brazen lies’ by Israeli government

Greta Thunberg’s alleged claims that she sat for hours on hard surfaces in a bedbug-infested Israeli jail while denied adequate food and water have been blasted by Israel’s Foreign Ministry as “brazen lies.”

According to correspondence from the Swedish Foreign Ministry, seen by The Guardian, Thunberg told officials she developed rashes possibly caused by bedbugs. 

The activist was also said to have complained of dehydration.

A letter shared with Thunberg’s parents also reportedly said she described “harsh and exhausting” treatment after she was detained by Israeli forces during her Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla aid expedition.

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Swedish activist Greta Thunberg sits at an unknown location, after Israel intercepted the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla aiming to reach Gaza and break Israel’s naval blockade, in this handout image released on October 3, 2025. (ISRAEL FOREIGN MINISTRY/Handout via REUTERS)

In a statement shared Sunday on X, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson said all detainees’ “legal rights were fully upheld.” 

They insisted that Thunberg “did not complain to Israeli authorities about any of these ludicrous and baseless allegations because they never occurred.”

Climate activist Greta Thunberg sits near an Israeli soldier after naval forces intercepted a Gaza-bound flotilla. (Israel Foreign Ministry)

The Israeli Foreign Ministry also called the reports “brazen lies” and emphasized that detainees had access to food, water, legal counsel and medical care.

Court documents from an Oct. 5 hearing before Israel’s Population and Migration Tribunal appear to support the official account, per local media reports, showing she requested deportation to Sweden but made no formal complaint of mistreatment while in custody.

In another post on X, the ministry shared that one Spanish detainee from Thunberg’s Flotilla allegedly bit a female medical staff member at Ketziot Prison.

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Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir described the flotilla participants as “supporters of terrorism,” saying he was “proud they experienced the same conditions as terrorist detainees.”

Thunberg, 22, was among roughly 450 activists from more than a dozen countries detained after the Israeli navy intercepted the 42-boat Global Sumud Flotilla on October 1. 

Climate activist Greta Thunberg with other activists from a human rights organization met with journalists in Catania, Italy ahead of their departure for the Mideast.  (AP)

The convoy, which departed from Turkey a day earlier, sought to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza and deliver symbolic humanitarian aid.

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Other activists, such as Turkish journalist and flotilla participant Ersin Çelik, told Anadolu Agency that guards “dragged little Greta by her hair, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Swedish Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Foreign Ministry for comment.