France bans Israeli finance chief under new sanctions

France has barred Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering its territory as part of new sanctions targeting individuals linked to settlement expansion and violence in the West Bank, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced in a post on X, cited by Caliber.Az.

Avec nos partenaires britannique, canadien, australien, néo-zélandais et norvégien, nous prenons aujourd’hui de nouvelles sanctions contre les responsables de l’intensification de la colonisation et des violences en Cisjordanie.

A titre national, nous avons interdit d’accès à… pic.twitter.com/VwGy3l7l00

— Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) June 9, 2026

“Together with our British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and Norwegian partners, we are today imposing new sanctions against individuals responsible for intensifying settlement expansion and violence in the West Bank. At the national level, we have banned entry to our territory for Minister Bezalel Smotrich, four leaders of settler organisations and twenty-one radical settlers,” Barrot said.

He accused Smotrich of promoting policies including the annexation of the West Bank, the creation of new settlements, the “recolonisation of Gaza,” and actions contributing to the economic collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

“Bezalel Smotrich actively promotes the annexation of the West Bank, as he openly states, the creation of new settlements in the West Bank, the recolonisation of Gaza, as well as the economic collapse of the Palestinian National Authority and its harmful consequences for the Palestinian population. This is a policy that the overwhelming majority of the international community cannot accept, firmly committed to a two-state solution,” he said.

France had previously imposed a similar entry ban in May on Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

By Tamilla Hasanova