Gaza flotilla’s 44 activists including French lawmakers begin hunger strike

Global Sumud Flotilla says 42 of the activists detained by Israel during the interception of its vessels are on hunger strike in solidarity with the Palestinian people, according a statement issued by the group.

Among those observing the hunger strike are four French lawmakers – three of them women – and Brazilian climate activist Thiago Avila, reported AFP.

“As famine spreads in Gaza Strip and 95 per cent of farmland lies destroyed, dozens of Global Sumud Flotilla volunteers remain imprisoned – refusing to be fed by the same regime enforcing starvation on Palestinians,” said Global Sumud Flotilla in its statement, according to the Middle East Eye.

Earlier on Saturday, France’s left-wing party France Unbowed announced that two of its national deputies, Francois Piquemal and Marie Mesmeur, and two of its members in EU parliament, Rima Hassan and Emma Fourreau, had declared a hunger strike “in solidarity with the Palestinian people”.

France Unbowed member of European Parliament Manon Aubry revealed the development to French radio station Franceinfo Sunday.

“Their detention conditions are difficult,” she said, describing more than 10 people per cell and difficulty accessing water.

Malaysian female vocalist and detainee Hazwani Helmi told AP that many of the flotilla activists were forced to drink toilet water, and that Israeli soldiers rejoiced at their ordeals. Malaysian actress Heliza Helmi alleged she could not eat for at least two days.

French parliamentarian Aubry called on her government to repatriate their nationals.

Israel detained 30 French citizens after intercepting the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of 45 ships that aimed to break Israel’s siege on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the territory.

“It is time for France to finally take action,” Aubry said, echoing her party’s national coordinator Manuel Bompard’s calls for “France to finally say something” on French television channel LCI.

France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Melenchon on Saturday slammed “the cowards of the French government”, pointing out that detained nationals from several other countries have already been returned home from Israel.

Meanwhile, “(French) deputies are ignored by their assemblies. Let us all remember this,” he wrote on X.