France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Wednesday accused French activists who sailed on a Gaza-bound aid boat of capitalising on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for political attention.
The activists -- who hoped to raise awareness about the humanitarian situation in war-torn Gaza -- included Rima Hassan, a member of European Parliament from the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party who is of Palestinian descent.
She is among four French activists still detained in Israel, after Israeli forces intercepted the Madleen sailboat and its 12 crew members in international waters off the besieged Palestinian territory on Monday.
They will be deported from Israel on Thursday or Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X on Wednesday.
Another four, who are not French, were also taken into custody.
The remaining four, including two French citizens and Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, agreed to be deported immediately after being banned from Israel for 100 years.
LFI leader in parliament Mathilde Panot accused the prime minister of failing to condemn Israel's actions.
Party boss Jean-Luc Melenchon even accused Bayrou of "abandoning the French prisoners" and called on President Emmanuel Macron to step in.
"These activists obtained the effect they wanted, but it's a form of instrumentalisation to which we should not lend ourselves," Bayrou responded in the National Assembly.
It is "through diplomatic action, and efforts to bring together several states to pressure the Israeli government, that we can obtain the only possible solution" to the conflict, he added.
Barrot also rejected Panot's criticism, saying the "admirable mobilisation" of French officials had made a rapid resolution of the situation possible "despite the harassment and defamation that they have been subjected to".
France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting a UN meeting later this month in New York on steps towards recognising a Palestinian state and reaching a so-called two-state solution to the conflict.
Mounting pressure
Barrot had told parliament earlier the priority in Gaza should be "an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, as well as immediate, unimpeded and massive humanitarian aid access to abridge the suffering of civilian populations".
"In no way whatsoever do the gesticulations of Ms Rima Hassan, her instrumentalisation of the suffering of Gazans, help to achieve these goals," he added.
He said the French consul had visited all four French activists in Israeli detention.
The Israeli ambassador in Paris earlier said the Israeli authorities aimed to put them on to a plane back home "as soon as possible".
Israel is facing mounting pressure to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, whose entire population the United Nations has warned is at risk of famine.
Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023 attacked Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the retaliatory Israeli military offensive has killed at least 54,981 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.
Out of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 are still held in Gaza including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.