5 French citizens aboard Gaza-bound aid ship to face forced expulsion process

ISTANBUL

Five out of six French citizens aboard a recently seized Gaza-bound aid ship will face a forced expulsion process by Israel, the French foreign minister announced on Tuesday.

"Our consul was able to see the six French nationals arrested by the Israeli authorities last night. Their families have been contacted. One of them has agreed to leave voluntarily and is expected to return today. The other five will be subject to a forced expulsion process," Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X.

Barrot did not provide details on the identity of the French national who has agreed to leave voluntarily.

A source told the broadcaster Franceinfo that French-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan has refused her expulsion.

Madleen was seized by Israeli naval forces on Sunday while sailing in international waters and redirected to the port of Ashdod.

Part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the aid ship had a 12-strong crew on board, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and French-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan.

Other activists aboard the Madleen included Yasemin Acar from Germany; Baptiste Andre, Pascal Maurieras, Yanis Mhamdi and Reva Viard from France; Thiago Avila from Brazil, Suayb Ordu from Türkiye, Sergio Toribio from Spain, Marco van Rennes from the Netherlands and Omar Faiad, a journalist with Al Jazeera Mubasher, also from France.