UPDATE: Polish citizens from Global Sumud Flotilla deported to Greece, confirms foreign ministry
Those deported included citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Serbia, and the United States, Israeli diplomats confirmed.
Although Israeli officials described the flotilla, which had attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians, as a “provocative PR stunt” linked to Hamas - saying that all legal rights of those detained were fully respected and that the only violent incident occurred when one participant allegedly bit a female medical worker at Ketziot Prison - the activists themselves accused Israel of mistreatment.
Greta Thunberg and other aid workers for Gaza claim mistreatment in Israeli custody
On Saturday, the British daily The Guardian reported that Thunberg had alleged harsh treatment while in Israeli custody following her detention and deportation from the Global Sumud Flotilla.
She told Swedish officials she was held in a cell infested with bedbugs, given insufficient food and water, and forced to sit on hard surfaces for long periods. Other detainees claimed she was made to hold flags for photographs and paraded wrapped in an Israeli flag.
The flotilla, consisting of 437 activists, parliamentarians, and lawyers on more than 40 vessels, was intercepted by Israeli forces between Thursday and Friday, with most detainees held at Ketziot prison in the Negev desert.
Lawyers and activists have claimed systemic rights violations, including denial of water, food, sleep, sanitation, and access to legal counsel. Israel has denied these allegations, stating that all detainees’ legal and medical rights were fully respected.
Over the weekend, Radio Poland reported that one of the Polish activists, Karolina “Nina” Ptak, president of the Nomada Association, began a hunger strike in Israeli custody.
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Source: The Guardian/X/@IsraelMFA