Rima Hassan refusing to sign deportation papers: Report
Israel’s public broadcaster Kan is reporting that French-Palestinian Member of European Parliament Rima Hassan has refused to sign deportation papers.
According to Kan, Hassan will be taken to a detention facility in the city of Gibeon.
In total, Kan said, eight of the Madleen’s 12 crew members are refusing to sign the deportation papers, and the four who signed will leave Israel on separate flights “during the day”.
Earlier, Suhad Bishara, the legal director at Adalah, a Palestinian-run legal centre in Israel representing the detained activists, said some of them may “not agree to fly without a legal consultation, because the assumption is that they will have to need to sign some documents”.
“In this case, they will be moved to a detention centre in Ramleh, awaiting a tribunal for immigration,” Bishara said.
Kidnapped in international waters and facing immigration tribunal?
How have the home countries of Madleen’s crew responded to their detention in Israel?
Israeli authorities have said that diplomats from the home countries of the Madleen crew will be able to meet them at Ben Gurion airport.
The crew includes citizens of Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkiye. Here’s how those countries responded to the Israeli raid on the Madleen:
- Brazil withdrew its ambassador from Israel in May 2024 but said nearby embassies were “on alert” to provide assistance. Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged Israel to release the detained crew members and “immediately lift all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Palestinian territory”.
- France‘s President Emmanuel Macron “asked that our six French nationals be allowed to return to France as soon as possible”. Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot said, “We have asked to be able to exercise our consular protection over them.”
- Germany‘s ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, said that “we are in touch with the Israeli authorities about the ‘Madleen” and “we have offered consular assistance for one German citizen”.
- Spain has summoned Dan Poraz, charge d’affaires at the Israeli Embassy in Madrid, over the raid, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
- Turkiye‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Israel’s interception of the Madleen is a “clear violation of international law” that “once again demonstrates that Israel is acting as a terror state”.
The Madleen was flying the flag of the UK which urged Israel to resolve the interception of the Madleen aid ship “safely and with restraint”, stressing the need to adhere to international humanitarian law.
Freedom Flotillas: A history of attempts to break Israel’s siege of Gaza
The Madleen is not the first ship that has tried to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
In 2008, two boats from the Free Gaza Movement successfully reached Gaza, marking the first break of Israel’s naval blockade. The movement, founded in 2006 by activists during Israel’s war on Lebanon, went on to launch 31 boats between 2008 and 2016, five of which reached Gaza despite heavy Israeli restrictions.
Since 2010, all flotillas attempting to break the Gaza blockade have been intercepted or attacked by Israel in international waters.
The map below shows the approximate locations where prominent flotillas were stopped, some encountering deadly Israeli forces.
