France has banned Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from entering its territory, in the strongest individual diplomatic action yet against a serving Israeli minister over the treatment of intercepted Gaza flotilla activists.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced the travel ban on X, saying it followed “reprehensible actions” against French and European citizens aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla. Barrot also urged the European Union to consider bloc-wide sanctions against Ben-Gvir, escalating the response beyond the ambassador summonses Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Spain have already issued this week.
The trigger was footage that emerged after Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla in international waters and detained around 430 participants. The video shows Ben-Gvir appearing to gloat at blindfolded, bound activists at Ashdod port — conduct Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier called “not in line with Israel’s values.”
France’s move follows a wave of allegations of beatings, sexual assault and shipping-container detention from deported activists — including Sri Lankan national Sameera Mehboobdeen, deported via Istanbul on Thursday. The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry registered formal concern over the Ben-Gvir video three days ago.
Israel’s prison service has dismissed the abuse allegations as “entirely without factual basis.” Ben-Gvir, leader of the Otzma Yehudit party and a settler from the West Bank, was already sanctioned by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway last year over settler violence — but France’s ban is the first European-bloc travel restriction tied specifically to the flotilla incident.
Source: Newswire.
