Who is Rima Hassan, French MP onboard the Gaza aid ship intercepted by Israel?

European Parliamentarian Rima Hassan and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg were among 12 people aboard a Gaza-bound humanitarian ship that was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters.

The vessel, Madleen, a British-flagged yacht operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was reportedly stopped around 2 am.

In a video recorded before the raid, Greta Thunberg said she and others had been “kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces.” Hassan also shared a photo from the yacht, showing passengers in life jackets, seated with their hands raised as Israeli forces boarded.

The operation, carried out in the early hours of Monday, blocked the Madleen from reaching Gaza shores. The ship was carrying essential humanitarian supplies, including baby formula, rice, and medical aid, and was attempting to challenge Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza, which has lasted over 12 weeks.

In a social media post, the Israeli ministry described the vessel disparagingly, referring to it as “the ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities.’”

While those aboard the vessel are now expected to be sent back to their respective countries, Rima Hassan, a controversial French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament, has come into the spotlight.

Here’s what we know about her

-Born as Rima Hassan Mobarak in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria in 1992, she is now a legal scholar and human rights activist. At the age of nine, she moved to France with her family and settled in Niort. Growing up stateless, she finally gained French citizenship at 18 in 2010, which allowed her to begin her academic journey.

-She studied law at the University of Montpellier, earning her bachelor’s degree by 2014. For her Master’s in international law, she went on to attend Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

-Rima Hassan quickly emerged as a passionate advocate for Palestinian rights.

-In 2016, she joined the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA), and after 18 months, she moved to the National Court of Asylum Law. By 2019, she had founded the Refugee Camps Observatory—an NGO focused on studying and protecting refugee camps around the world.

-In 2023, the 32-year-old joined La France Insoumise to contest the 2024 European Parliament elections. She was elected on 9 June 2024. She is the first French-Palestinian MEP in history.

-Currently, Hassan serves as a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Subcommittee on Human Rights, and the Delegation for Relations with Palestine.

-Nicknamed “Lady Gaza”—a label coined by a comedian on public radio who portrayed her as being singularly focused on Palestine—Hassan has become a lightning rod in French politics. A columnist in the weekly Le Point even compared her to Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-right figure and Holocaust denier who died in early 2025.

-Often seen wearing a keffiyeh, the symbolic scarf of the Palestinian liberation movement, Hassan has earned strong backing from pro-Palestinian groups.

-She has been one of the most vocal figures calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and is now regarded as one of the most controversial politicians in France.

-On 27 February, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced that she would be investigated for “terrorist apologism” over her remarks about Israel. The EU Parliamentarian has accused the Jewish nation of committing “genocide” in Gaza, calling it a “fascist colonial entity” and a “nameless monstrosity” that “lies every day.”

-Members of France’s centrist and far-right parties even pushed for her to be stripped of her citizenship, though those calls were eventually dropped, as they were found to have no legal basis.

-On 24 February 2025, she was denied entry to Israel while attempting to join an EU-Palestine delegation. Israeli authorities cited her support for anti-Israel boycotts as the reason

With input from agencies