PARIS (Reuters) – France will ban 28 Israeli settlers from entering the country, accusing them of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, its foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
“These measures come as violence perpetrated by settlers against the Palestinian population has increased in recent months. France reaffirms its firm condemnation of this unacceptable violence,” the ministry said in a statement.
It did not name the individuals.
U.N. figures show that daily settler attacks have more than doubled since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and the ensuing assault on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
While much international attention has focused on that cross-border assault and Israel’s subsequent war there, European officials have also expressed increasing concern about rising violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The United States and Britain have expressed similar concerns and have already imposed sanctions on several settlers whom they say are responsible for violence.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in December that he would also propose similar measures.