Greta Thunberg reveals torture, denial of clean water in Israeli detention

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has revealed that she and other detainees from the Gaza aid flotilla were subjected to torture and denied access to clean water while in Israeli detention.

Speaking at a press conference in Stockholm on Tuesday, Thunberg said she and fellow detainees were "kidnapped and tortured" by Israeli forces following the illegal interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which attempted to deliver aid to Gaza last week.

"Personally, I don’t want to share what I was subjected to because I don’t want it to make headlines and ‘Greta has been tortured,’ because that’s not the story here," she said.

"What we went through is nothing compared to what people in Gaza experience daily."

Thunberg said detainees were forced into small cages and threatened with being killed by gas after they asked for medical attention.

"When we asked for a doctor and life-saving medicine, they put 60 people in small cages and told us they would kill us with gas," she said.

'No clean water'

Thunberg also said that detainees had no access to clean drinking water and became ill after consuming contaminated water.

"They threw away bottles filled with drinking water right in front of us and laughed at us for asking for clean water," she said.

"We told them, 'We’re not leaving until we have access to clean drinking water.'"

She added that Swedish consular officials were aware of the detainees’ complaints but failed to intervene effectively.

"When the consular officials left after meeting us, I told them, ‘Once you’re gone, they’ll beat us.’ The Swedish officials left anyway," she said.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, comprising more than 40 vessels and over 470 activists from 50 countries, was intercepted by the Israeli Navy while attempting to challenge Israel’s 18-year blockade on Gaza.

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Source: TRT