European Parliament lawmaker Mélissa Camara will be released from a high-security Israeli prison this weekend, after authorities detained her for taking part in the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“Melissa will be released on Sunday and deported to Jordan” after four days of detention at the southwestern Ktzi’ot prison, according to a note published on X, after which the Green MEP “will be taken care of” by French consular services.
Camara was among 479 activists on board 42 boats aiming to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza amid a months-long naval blockade by the Israeli government. Activists in the group, which also included climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, said they had suffered mistreatment by Israeli authorities — a claim Israel has denied.
“This is a huge relief for her family, for her friends and for her team, four days after the illegal kidnapping the flotilla crew was subject to in near the Gaza coast,” an aide to Camara told POLITICO. “We hope she then will be able to be returned as soon as possible as well as under the best possible conditions in France.”
While the interception and disembarking of the flotilla at the western Israeli port of Ashdod had been “tough,” said the aide, who was granted anonymity to speak freely, there were no signs so far the Camara had been mistreated during her detention.
Greens co-leader Bas Eickhout last week said he was “concerned … about her safety, about her health about her position,” and urged Parliament President Roberta Metsola to do her “utmost” to ensure the EU lawmaker gets “all the help that she needs.”
The announcement comes as tens of thousands of forcibly displaced Gazans have begun the journey back to northern parts of the war-stricken enclave after a ceasefire spearheaded by U.S. President Donald Trump took effect on Friday.
Under the first phase of the agreement, Hamas is expected to hand over the remaining 48 Israeli hostages that the militant group captured in late 2023 — with Israel expected to release around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and re-open humanitarian aid routes to Gaza in return.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 67,000 people since the country began its full-scale assault on Gaza two years ago, according to the Hamas-linked health ministry, a third of which were children. The war began after the militant group killed 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Spanish premier Pedro Sánchez and French President Emmanuel Macron are among a raft of leaders expected to attend an international summit on Gaza in Egypt on Monday.
Max Griera contributed reporting.