Greta Thunberg breaks silence after Israel expels flotilla activists taking aid to Gaza

"Let me be very clear. There is a genocide going on in front of our very eyes," Greta Thunberg declared upon arriving at Athens International Airport, following her capture and deportation by Israeli authorities. The climate activist was among hundreds of campaigners aboard a flotilla attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

According to reports, Israel detained 479 people when it intercepted the aid flotilla and later deported 341 activists, including Thunberg.

On Monday (6 October), 161 of the deported activists, among them 27 Greek nationals, landed in Greece, where they were greeted by a cheering crowd of supporters.

"Let me be very clear. There is a genocide going on," the 22-year-old said. "Our international systems are betraying Palestinians. They are not even able to prevent the worst war crimes from happening."

"What we aimed to do with the Global Sumud Flotilla was to step up when our governments failed to do their legal obligation."

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The UN emphasised that Gaza’s malnutrition crisis has spiralled into truly catastrophic proportions: the entire under-five child population – more than 320,000 children – is now considered at risk of acute malnutrition.

In July alone, 13,644 children were identified as acutely malnourished, a new monthly high and representing more than a 500 per cent increase since the start of the year, UNICEF reported. That number climbed further in August, reaching 14,383 children.

Israel, which denies carrying out genocide in Gaza, has dismissed reports of widespread hunger as exaggerated. It also described the aid flotilla as a publicity stunt intended to benefit Hamas.

Activists who were part of the flotilla, however, said they endured inhumane conditions during their detention by Israeli forces, alleging a lack of food and water, physical violence, and being confined in cages.

In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations, saying that all detainees’ legal rights were respected. It added that the only violent incident reported involved an activist who allegedly bit a female medic at Israel’s Ketziot prison.

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