Gaza genocide: Freed from Israeli custody, Greta Thunberg says ‘we are doing a bare minimum’

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg spoke publicly on Monday for the first time since being released from an Israeli prison, where she was allegedly beaten and forced to kiss the Israeli flag.

Thunberg was among 171 people deported by Israeli authorities after being detained for joining a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Following their release, the group was flown to Greece and Slovakia.

Supporters greeted the activists with cheers when they arrived in Greece after their detention ordeal.

Speaking at Athens’ Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, Thunberg said her personal suffering was not the main story. “I could talk for a long time about the mistreatment and abuse we endured in prison,” she said.

“But that’s not the real issue. There’s a genocide unfolding before our very eyes — a live-streamed genocide.”

Thunberg accused Israel of escalating what she called a campaign of genocide and destruction, aimed at erasing an entire population.

“No one can claim ignorance,” she added. “In the future, no one will be able to say they didn’t know.”

She urged the world not to look away from Gaza or other regions facing suffering, naming Congo, Sudan, and Afghanistan among them.

“What we are doing is the bare minimum,” she said. “I will never understand how people can be so cruel — to deliberately starve millions trapped under an illegal siege, after decades of oppression and apartheid.”

In a video posted on Instagram, Thunberg described the Global Sumud Flotilla as a symbol of “international solidarity” with Palestinians.

She accused Israel of violating international law by blocking humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza and said their imprisonment was a direct result of government complicity.

“States have a legal duty to end their role in genocide, which the UN commissioner has now confirmed is taking place,” she said. “Israel cannot be granted impunity.”

The Global Sumud Flotilla, the largest aid flotilla ever organised for Gaza, was intercepted by the Israeli military on October 1 as it neared Gaza’s waters. Israeli forces seized dozens of boats, detained hundreds of passengers, and prevented the delivery of humanitarian supplies.