Israel on Thursday denied entry to French reporter Alice Froussard, who has been covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for public service broadcasters Radio France Internationale (RFI), FRANCE 24's sister radio station, and Radio France.
Froussard was refused entry after landing on Wednesday afternoon at Tel Aviv's international airport, where she was forced to spend the night before being sent back to Paris on a flight that took off Thursday morning.
Her deportation was announced by Israel's Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli.
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Froussard "sought to return and work in Israel on a permanent basis" and was "deported this morning and put on a flight back to France" on the ministry's recommendation, Chikli said.
The minister accused the reporter of supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas.
'Troubling trend of increasing restrictions' on journalists
RFI, part of France's public broadcasting corporation France Médias Monde (FMM), condemned the ban as "an obstacle to press freedom" and expressed support for the journalist.
"RFI journalist Alice Froussard was denied entry into Israeli territory... even though she had the required travel authorisation and had duly applied for a press visa to work in the West Bank," RFI wrote in a statement.
"Israeli authorities have not provided RFI with any justification for this decision," the statement added.
"RFI's management fully supports Alice Froussard and protests against this expulsion, which constitutes an obstruction of press freedom and comes at a time when journalists are facing increasing difficulties in covering current events in the region."
The FRANCE 24’s Société de Journalistes (SDJ) journalists’ association also condemned Israel’s decision “in the strongest terms” and noted that Froussard was traveling to the occupied West Bank “with all the necessary credentials to carry out her assignment”.
In a statement released Thursday, the SDJ noted that the latest incident “comes amid a troubling trend of increasing restrictions imposed on journalists seeking to cover news in the region”.
The deportation comes two days after France announced an entry ban against Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
French authorities have accused Smotrich of promoting the annexation of the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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