Apparently you need to download a jar file and add it to lib folder. That's just how it's done in the big 2025.
SWT repo: eclipse github
Find the download link and download "SWT Binary and Source" for your platform.
Extract this zip file and copy swt.jar to lib/swt-PLATFORM.jar,
where PLATFORM is cocoa, win32 or gtk, depending on your OS.
Now you can run the HelloWorld application:
./gradlew run