LONDON: Israeli authorities on Thursday denied entry to French journalist Alice Froussard after the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism said she had made hostile statements about Israel.
According to the ministry, Froussard arrived in Israel on Thursday morning for work, but was intercepted and put on a flight back to France.
The move drew condemnation from the French Embassy in Israel, which expressed outrage over the decision, according to local media reports.
In a post on X, Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli said Froussard, “who sought to return and work in Israel on a permanent basis,” was “deported this morning and put on a flight back to France” on the ministry’s recommendation.
He said she had been “a Hamas supporter.”
The ministry accused Froussard of making a series of anti-Israel remarks, including legitimizing the Oct. 7 attack, describing Israeli military activity in Gaza as a “massacre,” and accusing Israel of apartheid.
I am pleased to announce that at this very moment, Alice Froussard, a French journalist who supports Hamas, and who claims that the October 7 massacre must be viewed “in context,” is making her way from Ben Gurion Airport back to Paris.
Like Linda Sarsour before her, she too has…
— עמיחי שיקלי - Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) June 11, 2026
The French journalist has spent the past six years living and working in Jerusalem and Ramallah.
She reports for outlets including Radio France Internationale, Le Figaro, TV5Monde, and Mediapart.
In a statement, Radio France Internationale condemned Israel’s decision to bar Froussard as “an obstacle to press freedom,” saying Israeli authorities had not provided any justification to the broadcaster.
The outlet expressed support for the journalist at a time when media workers “face increasing difficulties covering events in the region.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists, which has repeatedly called on Israel to allow media employees to work without fear of reprisal, did not immediately comment when contacted.
Israel’s decision follows recent moves to bar entry to other figures deemed by Chikli to be hostile to Israel, including American political activist Linda Sarsour.
“Like Linda Sarsour and other instigators before her, Alice Froussard has also realized that we have changed the rules of the game,” Chikli said.
“Anyone who supports Hamas and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the State of Israel will not enter it. Bon voyage.”
In addition to stopping foreign journalists from independently entering Gaza, Israel has denied entry to individual reporters, including Italian photojournalist Alessandro Stefanelli, who was barred in February over what authorities described as biased coverage.
According to reports, the move is part of a broader effort in which Israeli police review and analyze the work of foreign journalists, with those files used as the basis for denying entry into the country.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said in June that at least 258 journalists and media workers had been killed by Israeli forces since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.
The move also came two days after Paris announced that Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had been banned from the country for supporting the annexation of the West Bank.
