Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg has come under intense criticism after mistakenly including a photograph of an Israeli hostage in a social media post intended to highlight the suffering of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. The Times UK reported that the sister of the hostage, Yaela David, publicly accused Thunberg of ignorance and insensitivity, calling the activist a “joke.”
Thunberg’s Instagram post featured several images that she claimed depicted Palestinian prisoners, alongside text condemning what she described as “systematic cruelty and dehumanisation.” However, one of the images was later identified as showing Evyatar David, a 24-year-old Israeli who was kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival on October 7. David was last seen in a Hamas propaganda video, emaciated and weak, forced to dig what appeared to be his own grave.
“You should make research before you post things you don’t understand about,” Yaela David wrote in response to Thunberg’s post. “In the sixth slide you put a photo of an Israeli hostage who Hamas starved on purpose. This is Evyatar David. Every minute you are not deleting the post, you are becoming a bigger joke.”
According to The Times UK, Thunberg’s critics accused her of downplaying the suffering of Israeli hostages through her activism. About 20 hostages, including David, are still believed to be alive in Gaza nearly two years after being taken captive. Negotiations in Egypt are ongoing to secure their release in exchange for more than 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds serving multiple life sentences.
Thunberg’s post also featured two other controversial images: one of a young Palestinian being restrained by an Israeli soldier, and another of a man whose face appeared to be marked with a Star of David. The post went live on the same day Thunberg was deported from Israel for participating in a flotilla attempting to deliver aid to Gaza in defiance of the naval blockade. She was detained alongside hundreds of others, including Mandla Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela.
Social media users and political commentators swiftly condemned the mix-up, arguing that the Swedish activist had undermined her own credibility. “This was a careless and damaging mistake,” one user wrote, while others urged Thunberg to issue a public apology and remove the post.
The image of Evyatar David, originally released in a Hamas video, sparked widespread outrage when it surfaced last year. It showed the young man malnourished and marking off days since his last meal. “This is the grave I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out,” David said in the footage.
As of Wednesday evening, Thunberg had not publicly commented on the incident or removed the post, despite growing calls for accountability from both supporters and critics.
