The former Match of the Day host also shared posts comparing Hamas’ hostages to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and defending the march in support of the proscribed terror group Palestine Action
October 5, 2025 12:49
Gary Lineker has shared a claim made, without evidence, by a crew member on the recent Gaza flotilla mission that Israeli soldiers “tormented” Swedish activist Greta Thunberg after halting her ship as it tried to reach the Strip.
More than 50 vessels were intercepted by the Israeli navy as they attempted to breach the long-standing naval blockade of the territory, with their crew detained for deportation.
Since then, Turkish activist Ersin Celik has accused the IDF of mistreating detainees, particularly 22-year-old Thunberg.
He alleged: “They dragged little Greta by her hair before our eyes, beat her and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag.
"They did everything imaginable to her as a warning to others.”
He also claimed that soldiers woke activists every two hours to deprive them of sleep, denied them medical care and restricted access to food and water.
However, he did not provide any evidence to corroborate his claims and no other detainees have yet made any allegations of mistreatment.
Thunberg was also previously arrested and deported from Israel after participating in a flotilla mission in June and did not claim to have been beaten or abused during that stint in detention.
Nonetheless, former Match of the Day host Lineker, who left the BBC amid a row over his sharing of a social media post with antisemitic connotations, amplified the claims on his Instagram story.
The post cited tweets from an account called @LandPalestine, which has previously referred to the flotilla crew as “hostages” and claimed that they were “kidnapped” by Israel.
Within a few hours, Lineker also shared a post from Novara Media which suggested that there was “nothing antisemitic” about the protest in support of the proscribed Palestine Action group, which the home secretary had called on organisers to postpone due to the recent Manchester synagogue attack.
He also shared a video from DropSite News in which an interviewee drew comparisons between the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and thousands of Palestinian detainees in Israel, some of whom stand accused of terror offences.
It comes after Israel released documents purporting to show links between senior figures in the flotilla campaign and Hamas.
The first document, a 2021 letter from then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, gives the group’s endorsement to the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), which Israel has alleged acts as Hamas’ representatives abroad. Indeed, Israel designated the PCPA as a terrorist group in its own right in 2021.
The other document is a list of alleged PCPA activists, including activist Zaher Birawi, who has led the flotilla movement for the past 15 years and chairs the Europal Forum, a pro-Palestine lobbying group.
Birawi, a journalist based in London, has previously faced allegations of being linked to Hamas and was described as a “senior Hamas operative” by Labour MP Christian Wakeford during a parliamentary debate in 2023.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry claimed: “This confirms that key assets of the flotilla are effectively owned and controlled by Hamas.
"They clarify the chain of command and financial support behind these operations, which have long been presented under civilian pretence.
"These documents expose the depth of Hamas’ international network and its operational control over individuals leading the flotilla.”
Neither Birawi, the PCPA nor the EuroPal forum responded to the JC’s requests for comment.
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