PARIS, June 9, 2026 (WAFA) – France on Tuesday announced new sanctions targeting colonists responsible for intensifying colonization and violence in the West Bank, including a ban on entry to French territory imposed on Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in coordination with five countries.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on the social media platform X that, in coordination with Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway, France is introducing new sanctions against those responsible for intensifying colonization and violence in the West Bank.

He added that, at the national level, France has banned Smotrich from entering its territory, alongside four officials from colonist organizations and 21 violent colonists.

The French Foreign Minister said, “Bezalel Smotrich actively promotes the annexation of the West Bank, which he openly claims, the creation of new settlements in the West Bank, the recolonization of Gaza, the economic collapse of the Palestinian Authority, and its deleterious consequences on the Palestinian population: this is a policy that the overwhelming majority of the international community cannot accept, firmly committed to the Two-State solution.”

He stressed that this policy is rejected by the vast majority of the international community, which remains firmly committed to a two-state solution.
T.R.