France slams Israel after gendarmes detained in occupied East Jerusalem

Officers freed after brief detention during visit by France’s top diplomat, with both sides trading blame over incident.

France has accused Israel of harming bilateral ties after Israeli forces entered a holy site under French administration in occupied East Jerusalem and briefly detained two gendarmes with diplomatic status.

The incident took place on Thursday as French Foreign Minister 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’s responsibility and deemed part of France.

French diplomatic sources told the Reuters news agency that Israeli security had been told not to enter before Barrot’s visit.

Barrot refused to enter the compound, called Eleona in French, while they were present.

Two French security officials were then briefly detained, the sources said, adding that the Israelis were aware the two were from the consulate and had diplomatic status.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintained that the security protocol for the visit had been “clarified” in advance, and the police said the French gendarmes had not identified themselves and had obstructed their work.

The ministry said in a statement that an argument ensued between Israeli forces and the two French security guards. They were released immediately after they identified themselves as diplomats, it said.

The AFP news agency reported that Israeli police surrounded the two French gendarmes, who were not in uniform, before pushing one of them to the ground.

The gendarme identified himself and shouted, “Don’t touch me!” several times, according to AFP. Both gendarmes were then led into police cars.

Troubled ties

The dispute casts a shadow over diplomatic relations that are already strained over Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

“This violation of the integrity of a site under French responsibility risks undermining the ties I had come to nurture with Israel at a time when we all need to move forward the region on the path to peace,” a visibly angry Barrot told reporters outside the building.

Israel’s ambassador to France will be summoned in the coming days, the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

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

The French government also banned Israeli weapons firms from exhibiting at a trade fair in Paris and has become increasingly uneasy over Israel’s conduct in its offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.

French officials have repeatedly said Paris is committed to Israel’s security and that its military helped defend Israel amid Iranian missile attacks earlier this year.

Barrot’s trip had aimed to press Israel to engage diplomatically to end the conflicts in the region now that the presidential election in the United States is over.

It was not the first time that tensions have arisen surrounding France’s historical holdings in the city.

In 2020, Macron lost his temper when visiting the Church of St Anne, another site under French administration, demanding Israeli security personnel leave the Jerusalem basilica.

In 1996, France’s then-President Jacques Chirac lost patience with Israeli security agents at the same church, telling one of them that his treatment was a “provocation” and threatened to get back on his plane.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies