Greta Thunberg was detained in central London while supporting pro-Palestinian activists staging a hunger strike to protest detention without bail. Video shows the 22-year-old holding a solidarity sign for the group Palestine Action, which the UK has designated a banned organisation. Demonstrators also sprayed red paint at an insurer accused of links to Elbit Systems, and several people were arrested. Campaigners warn two hunger strikers have now been fasting for 52 days and are at a critical stage.
Greta Thunberg Arrested in London While Supporting Hunger-Striking Pro-Palestinian Activists; Group Warns of 'Critical Stage'
The scene at Aspen Insurance at Plantation Place in the City of London, after two activists sprayed red paint over the front of the building, in support of the Palestine Action protesters on hunger strike in prison, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Shivansh Gupta/PA via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Greta Thunberg was detained in central London on Tuesday while showing support for pro-Palestinian activists who have begun a hunger strike to protest being held without bail as they await trial.
Video shared by the campaign group Prisoners for Palestine shows the 22-year-old Swedish activist holding a solidarity sign for the hunger strikers and the group known as Palestine Action. Earlier this year, the British government designated Palestine Action as a banned organisation under counterterrorism legislation.
The scene at Aspen Insurance at Plantation Place in the City of London, after two activists sprayed red paint over the front of the building, in support of the Palestine Action protesters on hunger strike in prison, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Shivansh Gupta/PA via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The incident formed part of a wider demonstration in the City of London, where two other protesters sprayed red paint outside an insurance firm. Prisoners for Palestine said the insurer was targeted because of alleged links to the Israel-linked defence company Elbit Systems.
City of London police said a man and a woman were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. A third woman was later arrested on suspicion of supporting a banned organisation. British police customarily do not identify suspects by name prior to formal charging.
The scene at Aspen Insurance at Plantation Place in the City of London, after two activists sprayed red paint over the front of the building, in support of the Palestine Action protesters on hunger strike in prison, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Shivansh Gupta/PA via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Eight members of Palestine Action have launched a hunger strike to protest their detention without bail while awaiting trial on charges related to earlier demonstrations across the country. Prisoners for Palestine said the first two detainees who joined the hunger strike have now been fasting for 52 days and are at a "critical stage, where death is a real possibility."
'The health and lives of the hunger strikers are at severe risk,' Prisoners for Palestine said in a statement, urging authorities to address the detainees' conditions.
The UK government has so far declined to intervene in the judicial process, saying decisions about bail and detention are matters for the courts to determine.
Thunberg was previously acquitted in February 2024 by a London court of failing to comply with a police order to leave a protest that blocked the entrance to a major oil and gas industry conference. She has also faced repeated fines in Sweden and the UK for acts of civil disobedience related to environmental and political protests.
