Flash photo of Rima Hassan, European deputy and member of La France Insoumise (LFI), speaking alongside her lawyer Vincent Brengarth during a press conference following a hearing at the regional headquarters of the Paris judiciary police in Paris, France, on April 3, 2026. Photo: REUTERS

French authorities are seeking a 10-month suspended prison sentence and a two-year ban from public office for European Parliament lawmaker Rima Hassan after prosecutors accused her of glorifying terrorism in online remarks, intensifying scrutiny of her controversial anti-Israel rhetoric.

Hassan — a 34-year-old French-Palestinian lawyer and activist who was elected to the European Parliament in 2024 — is standing trial in France over social media remarks which prosecutors have linked to support for terrorism, including a quote from one of the perpetrators of the deadly 1972 Tel Aviv airport massacre that killed 26 people.

Expected to be handed down on Nov. 30, the sentence would not require Hassan to serve time in prison unless she violates the conditions of the suspended term, while the proposed two-year ban would bar her from holding public office.

The French lawmaker from the far-left party La France Insoumise had shared a quote attributed to a Japanese terrorist who carried out the deadly attack, in a social media post that has since been deleted.

“Kozo Okamoto: I dedicated my youth to the Palestinian cause. As long as there is oppression, resistance will not only be a right, but a duty,” Hassan reportedly wrote.

According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the post “resembles a tribute,” offering no “criticism” or “distancing” from Okamoto’s actions and instead presenting a “heroic vision, completely out of step with who Okamoto was: a killer.”

During the trial, prosecutors argued that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war in Gaza “cannot serve as a totem of immunity,” insisting that political grievances do not excuse statements that glorify terrorist violence.

Although Hassan exercised her right to remain silent during the proceedings, she first denounced what she called an “attempt at intimidation” and the “silence of an opposition elected official,” accusing authorities of judicial harassment.

Hassan, who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, has repeatedly drawn controversy over her outspoken anti-Israel activism and faced investigations for promoting hateful speech.

In one of the latest incidents, the pro-Palestinian lawmaker could face disciplinary action after removing Israeli and EU flags from an exhibition commemorating the victims of the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, as the memorial marked the third anniversary of the attacks.

Last year, the French citizen was expelled from Israel after being arrested while attempting to reach Gaza aboard the vessel Madleen to “break the Israeli blockade.”

She has also been subject to an investigation in Paris for “apology of terrorism” following an interview given after the Oct. 7 atrocities, in which she justified Hamas’s actions.