Overview
- The flotilla that left Turkey on May 14 was intercepted at sea by Israeli forces who detained and expelled about 430 activists, including 37 French nationals.
- On May 29 Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters he had formally referred the alleged mistreatment of French participants to the public prosecutor under article 40 of the code of criminal procedure.
- Paris based its referral on a consul general’s report that described sexual violence, exposure to cold, beatings and repeated humiliations and on video footage showing detainees kneeling with hands bound.
- France additionally banned entry to Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir as a diplomatic measure tied to public outrage over the detention footage.
- Lawyers for the French activists rejected the government’s response as a 'simulacre de condamnation,' refused to meet the foreign minister and said they will file criminal complaints for rape, torture and other abuses, a step that could produce parallel judicial cases and prolong the diplomatic dispute.