France freezes Gaza evacuations after alleged evacuee's antisemitic posts

France has halted evacuations of Palestinians from Gaza over alleged antisemitic content posted online by a student recently brought from the war-torn enclave.

"No operation of this type, no evacuation of any kind, will take place until we have learned the full consequences of this investigation," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told franceinfo on Friday. 

Asked by Middle East Eye whether the freeze applied to Palestinians in Gaza who needed to be evacuated for medical reasons, the Foreign Ministry did not respond in time for publication.

The freeze will remain in place until the investigation is concluded, though it is unclear how long that will take.

The student accused of posting the alleged content online was due to start at Sciences Po Lille next year. She arrived in France in July with a government scholarship to study at the renowned higher education institution in northern France.

MEE has not been able to independently verify the alleged posts in question.

Public radio station France Inter said it was unable to contact the student directly and that "according to our information, she is upset and overwhelmed by the situation".

The alleged posts were shared by Julien Bahloul, a former spokesperson for the Israeli army and a French-Israeli journalist.

The incident has sparked widespread reaction in the French political class and has been exploited by the right and far right.

Right-wing Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the Palestinian student's comments were "unacceptable and worrying" and called her a "Hamas propagandist".

A few hours later, Science Po Lille announced its decision to cancel the student's registration, stating that the content of some of her posts was "in direct contradiction with values".

The Minister of Foreign Affairs also promptly reacted on X, saying that "a Gazan student making antisemitic remarks has no place in France".

Barrot admitted that "the screening carried out by the competent services of the concerned ministries clearly did not work" and requested an internal investigation "to ensure that this cannot happen again under any circumstances".

On Thursday, the French justice system announced the opening of an investigation "for condoning terrorism and condoning crimes against humanity through the use of an online public communication service".

'No place in France'

The incident comes as media reports suggest that another Palestinian from Gaza, a journalist, is also suspected of having posted antisemitic content online. 

Presented as a regular contributor to France 24 for nine years, the reporter was evacuated from Gaza last Friday with the help of French diplomacy.  

On Friday, Barrot indicated that "all profiles that entered France will be subject to a new check".

Reiterating that the Palestinian student "has no place in France" and must leave the country, he did not specify the destination to which she could be sent back amid Israel's war on Gaza, now described as a genocide by a growing number of countries, major human rights groups and legal experts.

After 22 months of almost daily Israeli bombardments that have left more than 60,000 dead, Palestinians are now threatened with widespread starvation caused by Israel’s renewed blockade.

Faced with this dire humanitarian situation, France has increased pressure on Israel in recent days by announcing that it will recognise the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September, starting a movement that has seen recognition moves by several western countries.

In mid-July, the National Court of Asylum in France granted all Palestinians from Gaza the opportunity to claim refugee status in the country based on their nationality.

Since the beginning of the year, France has reportedly exfiltrated 292 Palestinians from Gaza. On Thursday, the country welcomed the first adult evacuated for medical reasons.

Bashar al-Belbeisi, a 24-year-old choreographer seriously wounded in the leg by an Israeli air strike, had to wait several weeks to finally be evacuated, after significant public mobilisation.

So far, according to the newspaper Liberation, all of the wounded admitted to France since the start of the war - around 20 - were minors.

In mid-July, 12,000 patients were still waiting to be evacuated from Gaza to access vital medical care, according to Doctors Without Borders.