France has barred Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from entering French territory after videos showed him confronting detained Global Sumud Flotilla activists, turning Israel’s blockade-enforcement operation into a new diplomatic clash with Europe.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the move followed Ben-Gvir’s “unspeakable actions” toward French and European citizens aboard the flotilla. He also pushed for EU sanctions, while still saying Paris disapproves of the flotilla’s approach, calling it ineffective and a burden on diplomatic and consular services. Poland has already imposed a five-year entry ban on Ben-Gvir.

The footage showed detainees kneeling or lying on the ground with their hands restrained as Ben-Gvir waved an Israeli flag, shouted “Am Yisrael Chai,” and Israel’s national anthem played. The flotilla included about 50 boats and roughly 430 activists trying to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza before being intercepted by the Israeli Navy hundreds of kilometers off Israel’s coast.

Israel’s position is that the flotilla was not a humanitarian mission but a Hamas-serving provocation against a lawful naval blockade. Israeli officials said the foreign activists were deported, while detainees later alleged mistreatment; Israel’s prison service denied assault claims.

Prime Minister Netanyahu defended Israel’s right to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,” but publicly rebuked Ben-Gvir’s handling of the detainees as not in line with Israel’s values and norms.

The result, Israel stopped the flotilla, but Ben-Gvir handed hostile governments and media a cleaner target. France is now trying to turn the episode into a broader European sanctions push, while Israel is left separating the legitimacy of enforcing the blockade from the political damage caused by the video.