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France Expels Palestinian Activist

Palestinian activist Mariam Abu Daqqa, 72, has been expelled by France Christophe SIMON - AFP
Palestinian activist Mariam Abu Daqqa, 72, has been expelled by France Christophe SIMON - AFP
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France Expels Palestinian Activist

Palestinian activist Mariam Abu Daqqa, 72, has been expelled by France Christophe SIMON - AFP
Palestinian activist Mariam Abu Daqqa, 72, has been expelled by France Christophe SIMON - AFP

France on Friday expelled a Palestinian activist to Egypt after a protracted court battle over her presence, police said.

Mariam Abu Daqqa, 72, is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) which is considered a "terrorist" organization by the European Union.

Abu Daqqa was detained by police on Wednesday night after the State Council, France's highest administrative court, overturned a lower court ruling that had suspended an interior ministry expulsion order.

Abu Daqqa had a 50 day visa to visit France to take part in conferences on the Middle East conflict. The ministry said that her presence was a risk after the deadly October 7 Hamas attacks against Israel.

She took part in two conferences that had been banned while in France.

Reached by phone at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport as she awaited a flight to Cairo, Abu Daqqa slammed her expulsion as "an attack against the right of Palestine to have a state, an identity, an existence".

"The process that I have undergone is not worthy of a democratic government," she said.

Her lawyers, Elsa Marcel and Marie David, told AFP they would launch further appeals and even take the case to the European Court of Human rights.

France, which has large Jewish and Muslim populations, has seen a spike in tensions amid the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

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Zelenskiy Calls for Long-range Weapons after Drone Attack on Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (File/DPA)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (File/DPA)
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Zelenskiy Calls for Long-range Weapons after Drone Attack on Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (File/DPA)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (File/DPA)

Ukraine needs long-range weapons to protect its cities and troops on the frontline from Russian bombs and drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday after a massive overnight drone and missile attack.
Russia launched its fifth drone attack on Kyiv in two weeks overnight, with Ukraine's air defense systems destroying all the air weapons before they reached the capital, Ukraine's military said.
Ukraine's air force said on Telegram that its air defense systems destroyed 35 of the 39 drones and two cruise missiles that Russia had launched overnight. The weapons, the air force said, targeted 10 of Ukraine's regions.
It was not immediately clear how many drones were launched at Kyiv. There were no casualties and no significant damage reported, Serhiy Popko, head of the Ukrainian capital's military administration, said on the Telegram.
"During last night alone, the Russian army used almost 40 'Shaheds' against Ukraine. Importantly, most of them were shot down by our defenders of the sky," Zelenskiy said on Telegram, referring to the drones.
He said it was necessary to destroy Russian bombers at Russian air bases to protect Ukraine from air raids.
"Our sufficient long-range capabilities should be a fair response to Russian terror. Everyone who supports us in this supports the defense against terror," Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy renewed his call for Western allies to allow long-range strikes on Russia on Friday in London, saying Britain should try to convince its partners to remove the limits on their use.
NATO members have taken different approaches to how Ukraine can use weapons they donate. Some have made clear Kyiv can use them to strike targets inside Russia while the United States has taken a narrower approach, allowing its weapons to be used only just inside Russia's border against targets supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Russia launched three Iskander ballistic missiles, Ukraine's air force said, without saying what happened to them.
The military administration of the Sumy region in Ukraine's northeast bordering Russia said on Telegram that a Russian missile damaged critical infrastructure in the Shostkynskyi district of the region.
The administration did not provide detail on what infrastructure was hit.
There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attacks. Moscow says it does not attack civilian targets in Ukraine.
"These systematic attacks ... with drones, once again prove that the invader is actively looking for an opportunity to strike Kyiv," Popko said. "They're testing new tactics, looking for new approach routes to the capital, trying to expose the location of our air defense."