France freeze on Gaza evacuations 'predates alleged antisemitic incident'
France freeze on Gaza evacuations 'predates alleged antisemitic incident'
A freeze by France on evacuations of Palestinians from Gaza follows a claimed incident of antisemitism by a Palestinian evacuee, according to media reports.
On 1 August, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced the suspension of evacuations from Gaza following the discovery of alleged antisemitic posts by a Palestinian student who had been evacuated by French authorities.
The student, who was due to pursue studies at Sciences Po Lille next year, was deported to Qatar.
No details have yet been provided about what constituted the alleged antisemitism or how it was brought to the attention of French authorities but French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has shared a post on X saying, "Hamas propagandists have no place in our country".
Left wing politicians and human rights groups condemned the move.
In an op-ed, more than 1,600 academics denounced a "chilling cynicism", accusing "France [of] exacerbating its participation in the Israeli project of erasure and extermination of Palestinians underway in the Gaza Strip".
However, according to French outlet Mediapart, the suspension of evacuations predates the incident involving the Palestinian student.
The French outlet contacted Palestinians who had been selected to participate in PAUSE, a program to bring artists and scientists in exile to France.
Candidates were offered positions at higher education institutions or universities in France.
The Palestinians on the scheme told Mediapart that French authorities, through their consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, had told them they would be evacuated before the summer.
They learned afterwards - well before the alleged antisemitic incident - that their evacuations had been postponed without explanation.
"We initially thought it was because of the war between Israel and Iran", one of the respondents told Mediapart.
“Then there was a resumption of evacuations, around 20 June, but only of students leaving alone, without their families."
In response to their requests for clarification, French authorities urged the students to "be patient" and said they were encountering complications securing visas for family members.
French officials told the Palestinians affected that they were nevertheless trying to resolve the complications.
Cogat, the Israeli military agency responsible for civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories denied in a statement to Mediapart that Israel had been restricting the departure of Gaza residents.
‘Children leave the country in their dreams’
Seperately, the French foreign ministry has stopped responding to inquiries about the evacuation of sick Palestinian children.
A number of children have been awaiting transfer since May, Mediapart reported citing Doctors Without Borders (MSF) cited by Mediapart
The outlet spoke to Hani Isleem, a project coordinator at MSF who handles medical evacuations from Gaza.
According to Isleem, French hospitals have the capacity to accommodate these patients but that the country had not moved to evacuare them.
A diplomatic source said "France carries out medical evacuations for the benefit of injured or sick children from Gaza within the framework of a criteria that has been put in place by and is managed by WHO [World Health Organisation.
The WHO estimates that at least 12,000 sick and wounded Palestinians are awaiting evacuation from Gaza.
Paris announced on 20 March that it had taken in 25 Gazan patients since the beginning of 2024.
President Emmanuel Macron had promised in November 2023 that France would evacuate up to 50 if necessary.
Isleem denounced French evacuations as "ad hoc or political" and intended for public relations purposes.
France is one of several Western states that has announced it will recognise a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York next month.
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