PARIS: France introduced on Saturday (Might 23) it had banned Israeli Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from entry for a video mocking bound activists seized by Israeli troopers on a Gaza-bound help flotilla.
“From in the present day, Itamar Ben Gvir is banned from getting into French territory” after “his reprehensible actions in direction of French and European residents” who have been a part of the humanitarian flotilla, French International Minister Jean-Noel Barrot mentioned on X.
He added that, with Italy, he was additionally calling for European Union-level sanctions in opposition to the far-right Israeli minister.
The ban follows a world outcry after Ben Gvir printed a video on Wednesday displaying the heavy-handed therapy of overseas activists from the flotilla.
They have been detained by Israel in worldwide waters and have been awaiting deportation on the southern port of Ashdod.
Within the video, dozens of activists are seen pressured to kneel with their foreheads to the bottom and their arms tied.
The clip, which was captioned “Welcome to Israel”, additionally confirmed Ben Gvir heckling the activists whereas waving an Israeli flag.
Spain has additionally urged the EU to sanction Ben Gvir whereas the UK summoned Israel’s most senior diplomat in Britain following “the inflammatory video”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Ben Gvir’s therapy of the activists was “not according to Israel’s values and norms”.
Netanyahu had earlier denounced the humanitarian aid mission as a “malicious scheme” supposed to help Hamas.
The activists had departed from Türkiye final week on round 50 vessels beneath the International Sumud Flotilla.
It was the newest try by activists to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza, after Israeli forces intercepted a earlier convoy final month.
