Israeli settlement council chief denied entry to France: Report

French authorities denied entry to the head of the settlement council in the northern occupied West Bank, in what Israeli media described as a “diplomatic precedent.” i24NEWS, citing his office, said French immigration authorities stopped Yossi Dagan at a Paris airport after he arrived for meetings with elected French officials. The broadcaster said there was no known previous case of a Western country directly barring the head of an Israeli regional council in the occupied West Bank.

Dagan’s office said immigration officials took him aside for questioning at passport control last week. An official showed him documents citing his role in building 35 settlements in the occupied West Bank and his efforts to reestablish Gush Katif, a bloc of Israeli settlements evacuated from the Gaza Strip in 2005. French authorities have not yet publicly confirmed the reasons cited by his office. After being turned away, Dagan traveled to Prague, where he spent three days meeting senior Czech government officials and members of both houses of parliament, i24NEWS reported.

Israel’s Channel 15 reported that Dagan told Israeli Army Radio that a French police representative told him the decision was political. “Today it’s me, and tomorrow it could be any other Israeli citizen,” he said. “This move sets a diplomatic precedent,” it said. Israel has expanded illegal settlements and established new outposts in the occupied West Bank, where land seizures, demolitions and attacks by Israeli occupiers have displaced Palestinians.

Around 770,000 Israeli occupiers live in hundreds of settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank, including 250,000 in occupied East Jerusalem. UN Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted in 2016, said Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation of international law. On Feb. 13, 2024, France announced entry bans on 28 Israeli occupiers it accused of attacking Palestinian civilians.

EU foreign ministers reached a political agreement on March 18 that year to sanction occupiers for attacks on Palestinians. On July 13, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said a majority of member states support taking action against trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, arguing that ambassadors have been tasked with advancing the issue and that an extraordinary meeting is likely.