Oct. 6 (UPI) — Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was set to be deported from Israel on Monday, five days after she and more than 450 others were detained when a flotilla bringing aid to Gaza was intercepted by the Israeli military in the eastern Mediterranean.
Thunberg, 22, will be flown to Greece, according to other activists who were aboard boats in the flotilla, with some, who have already returned home, accusing Israeli authorities of abusing and humiliating them during their detention.
The environmental campaigner told Swedish officials of harsh treatment at the hands of Israeli forces, including being held in a bedbug-infested cell, insufficient food and clean water and forcing her to pose with Israeli flags for photographs.
Activists from Spain, Switzerland and Turkey recounted inhumane treatment, including physical assault, being hooded and shackled, deprivation of food, water and sleep and verbal abuse.
“They beat us, dragged us along the ground, blindfolded us, tied our hands and feet, put us in cages and insulted us,” lawyer Rafael Borrego said at Madrid airport on Sunday.
Israel’s foreign ministry dismissed the allegations a “complete lies,” insisting that all detainees were given access to water, food, and restrooms, no force was used and their legal rights were being “fully upheld.”
Thunberg was one of 70 people from different countries expected to be flown out of Israel on Monday, including 28 French nationals, 27 Greeks, 15 Italians and nine Swedes.
The Justice Ministry said in a statement that 170 out of a total of 479 activists had been expelled from Israel so far with 200 others due to be deported in the next 24 hours.
The first activists to be sent home were 26 Italians on Saturday many of whom alleged degrading treatment, with all those released since relaying similar accounts.
Thunberg was held along with three New Zealanders, Rana Hamida, Youssef Sammour and 18-year-old Samuel Leason at the high-security Ktzi’ot Prison in the Negev desert.
Loved ones of the New Zealand nationals said Monday that they were growing increasingly fearful for their safety.
The 50-boat Global Sumud Flotilla was intercepted on Wednesday after setting out from Barcelona earlier this month, linking up with other vessels in Tunis in an effort to break “Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza” by bringing aid to the famine-stricken Palestinian enclave.
