Hassan, who was born stateless in a refugee camp for Palestinians in Syria, is one of France's most vocal pro-Palestine activists and has already had brushes with the law for perceived glorification of terrorism.
French MEP Rima Hassan has been placed in police custody in Paris and is being questioned about alleged "apology for terrorism," her office said on Thursday.
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Hassan, of the far-left France Unbowed party, is being temporarily held as part of a probe into a post she wrote on social media last week in which she expressed solidarity with the Japanese terrorist Kōzō Okamoto.
Okamoto was convicted of a 1972 terrorist attack that killed 26 people at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.
A spokesperson for the European Parliament declined to comment "on ongoing proceedings" but did say that "the Parliament is in contact with the national authorities, the member and her political group."
The far-right lawmaker Matthias Renault, who first flagged Hassan's post to prosecutors, was quick to celebrate.
"Finally, the beginning of the end of impunity for the France Unbowed lawmaker!" he wrote in a post on X.
Hassan, who was born stateless in a refugee camp for Palestinians in Syria, is one of France's most vocal pro-Palestine activists and has already had brushes with the law for perceived glorification of terrorism.
In September, she told Euronews she was "honoured" by a controversial decision of students at Brussels Free University (ULB) faculty of law to name their graduating class after her.
The decision by the students to name their class after Hassan sparked protests in Belgium and France, where at the request of the Home Secretary, the Paris public prosecutor's office launched an investigation into her for "glorifying terrorism."
In June, she made headlines after being arrested and detained for several days by Israeli authorities after she joined the "Freedom Flotilla."
The activists who set off from Italy to try to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by boat were intercepted by Israel’s authorities about 200 kilometres from the coast.
When she was sent back to France, a large demonstration celebrated her return in Paris.
The flotilla consisted of 20 ships with more than 300 crew members, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Irish actor Liam Cunningham.