French nurse who spent two weeks working in Gaza hospitals during Israel’s genocide war was arrested by police on Thursday then released over showing support for Palestinians in the war-battered enclave.
Imane Maarifi was arrested in Thursday morning after raiding her home and taking her into custody before her husband and children,” said lawyer Rafik Chekkat, founder of the Islamophobia platform.
Maarifi, who is known as one of the first French nationals to enter Gaza since Oct. 7 as part of missions organized by the Palestinian Doctors Association in Europe (PalMed Europe), spent 15 days at the European hospital in Khan Younis during the Israeli war.
According to the French daily newspaper l’Humanité, Maarifi was allegedly accused of making “insults in connection with a campaign against the Israeli investment and real estate fair taking place in Paris on September 8.”
However, Her supporters and friends believe this is “merely an attempt to intimidate her.”
Maarifi attended pro-Palestinian rallies in France to share her testimony about the devastating situation in Gaza.
She has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a boycott of companies supporting Israel. Maarifi also testified at the National Assembly about the situation in
In videos she filmed on her phone while in the Gaza hospital, Imane showed overcrowded corridors, minimal equipment for delicate operations, and the cries of children treated on the floor and without anesthesia due to lack of space.
“It’s inhumane, we wouldn’t even treat animals like that,” Maarifi told FRANCE 24 after returning from Gaza in February.
“I knew what was going on in Gaza before going, but to experience it in person with all my senses. All my senses are still in Gaza. All my senses,” Maarifi added, noting staff at the hospital struggled to treat a constant stream of people wounded in daily bombardments.
Louis Boyard, Deputy of the French National Assembly, said in a post on X, “Almost a year has passed since France has been covered in shame due to its inaction in the face of the genocide in Palestine. Today, a new milestone has been reached; the police have just arrested nurse Imane Maarfi at her home in France.”
“Her crime? Reporting to the National Assembly about her humanitarian mission at Khan Younes Hospital in Gaza. We must not lower our eyes in the face of these intimidations. Imane Maarfi must be released.”
Rafik Chekkat also slammed french police revealing that Imane’s arrest came at a time French soldiers are fighting along with the Israeli army in Gaza, and dangerously “enjoying total impunity.”
Thomas Portes, a lawmaker from the La France Insoumise, or France Unbowed (LFI) party, wrote that Maarifi was released from custody on Thursday afternoon.
“Imane Maarifi has just been released. Her police custody is over, and no charges will be filed. The search of her home in front of her family leaves no doubt about the intent to intimidate those who speak out in support of the Palestinian people and call for an immediate ceasefire,” he wrote on X.
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