Published: 18:13, November 12, 2024
France: No repeat of Jerusalem incident will be accepted
By Reuters
 In this grab taken from an AFPTV video footage, Israeli police detain a French gendarme at the Eleona Domain (Church of the Pater Noster) in Jerusalem, on Nov 7, 2024, a sanctuary that French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot had scheduled to visit. (PHOTO / AFP) 

PARIS - A repeat of an incident in Jerusalem that saw armed Israeli security forces entering a property administered by France must never happen again, France's foreign minister said ahead of summoning Israel's envoy on Tuesday.

Two French security officials with diplomatic status were briefly detained on Nov 7 after French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot was due to visit the compound of The Church of the Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives.

The site, one of four administered by France in Jerusalem, is under Paris' responsibility and it not the first time that problems have arisen over France's historic holdings in the Holy City.

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"It is an opportunity for France to reiterate that it will not tolerate Israeli armed forces entering these areas, for which it (France) is responsible, for which it ensures protection," Barrot told France 24 television when asked what the ambassador would be told.

"And to strongly reaffirm that this incident must never happen again, meaning that Israeli forces enter armed and without authorization."

Israel's ambassador is due to meet Barrot's chief of staff at the foreign ministry on Tuesday.

In this grab taken from an AFPTV video footage, Israeli police detain a French gendarme at the Eleona Domain (Church of the Pater Noster) in Jerusalem, on Nov 7, 2024, a sanctuary that French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot had scheduled to visit. Israeli police entered the French-owned Eleona church compound in Jerusalem, on Oct 7, briefly detaining two gendarmes and prompting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to abandon his visit, an AFP journalist reported. France claims the sanctuary on the Mount of Olives as its territory under international treaties. It has been the focus of diplomatic incidents in the past. (PHOTO / AFP)

Israel's foreign ministry has said that every visiting foreign leader is accompanied by its security personnel, a point that had been "clarified in advance in the preparatory dialogue with the French Embassy in Israel".

Diplomatic relations between France and Israel have worsened since President Emmanuel Macron called for an end to the supply to Israel of offensive weapons used in Gaza.

READ MORE: Israel lashes out at France after firms barred from arms show

The French government also attempted to ban Israeli weapons' firms from exhibiting at a trade fair in Paris and has become increasingly uneasy over Israel's conduct in the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.