Two of the six French nationals present on the Gaza-bound aid ship had already agreed to return to France on Tuesday, while the remaining four, including French-Palestinian European Parliament member Rima Hassan, Pascal Maurieras, Yanis Mhamdi and Reva Viard, had rejected their expulsion.

Israel is to expel by the end of the week four French nationals held after security forces intercepted their Gaza-bound aid boat, France's foreign minister said Wednesday, as an Israeli NGO said one of the French campaigners was briefly put in solitary confinement.

Israeli forces have seized a Gaza-bound aid boat and detained Greta Thunberg and other activists who were on board.