France expels head of Israeli settlement council

Occupied Jerusalem – Agencies: French authorities barred Yossi Dagan, head of the regional council of Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, from entering French territory, according to a statement issued by his office, in a move Israel deemed “unacceptable.” Dagan’s office said he was forced to leave France after his flight landed at one of Paris’s airports last week. The statement clarified that he was “set aside during passport control and questioned” before being informed that he was banned from entering French soil. The French Foreign Ministry did not confirm Dagan’s deportation but noted that he is “subject to an administrative ban from French territory due to his active role in implementing the settlement policy in the West Bank.” It reiterated that “settlement construction contradicts international law and undermines the two-state solution.” This incident comes amid rising tensions between Israel and European countries, particularly regarding the escalating violence by settlers and settlement expansion in the West Bank under the right-wing government of outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the measure taken against Dagan is “completely unacceptable,” asserting that it is based on “clear political and ideological grounds.” Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, captured in 1967, has intensified alongside the war in Gaza that erupted on October 7, 2023.