France has imposed an entry ban on far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced on Tuesday that the entry ban was issued in connection with new sanctions that France had imposed together with the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway over the settlement policy.
The aim is to hold extremist settlers to account for violence against Palestinian civilians, according to a joint statement by the foreign ministries of the participating countries.
The statement says violent extremist settlers - backed by their supporters - continue to carry out attacks on Palestinians and violate their human rights.
They resorted to violence to drive Palestinians away, destroy their property and continue illegal settlement, which jeopardized the viability a Palestinian state and the prospects for peaceful coexistence, the statement said.
Barrot justified the entry ban for the Israeli finance minister on the grounds that Smotrich was advocating the annexation of the West Bank and the establishment of new settlements there. Furthermore, Smotrich was seeking to resettle the Gaza Strip, from which Israel withdrew more than 20 years ago.
"This is a policy that the overwhelming majority of the international community, which firmly adheres to the two-state solution, cannot accept," Barrot wrote on X on Tuesday.
In addition to the minister, the entry ban also applies to four leaders of settler organizations and 21 violent settlers.
