PARIS: France’s prime minister, Francois Bayrou, on Wednesday accused French activists who sailed on a Gaza-bound aid boat of capitalizing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for political attention.
The activists — who hoped to raise awareness about the humanitarian situation in war-torn Gaza — included Rima Hassan, a member of European Parliament from the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party who is of Palestinian descent.
She is among four French activists still detained in Israel, after Israeli forces intercepted the Madleen sailboat and its 12 crew members in international waters off the besieged Palestinian territory on Monday.
They will be deported from Israel on Thursday or Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X Wednesday.
Another four, who are not French, were also taken into custody.
