PARIS – France accused Israel on November 7 of damaging bilateral relations after Israeli security forces entered a French-administered holy site in Jerusalem and briefly detained two French officials with diplomatic status.

The incident occurred as French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot was due to visit the grounds of the Pater Noster church on the Mount of Olives. The site, one of four French-administered sites in Jerusalem, is under the responsibility of Paris and is considered part of France.

French diplomatic sources said Israeli security had been ordered not to enter before Mr Barrot’s visit.

However, they did so and as a result Mr Barrot refused to enter the compound – called Eleona in French – while they were present. Two French security officials were then briefly arrested, the sources said, adding that the Israelis knew they were from the consulate and had diplomatic status.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that an argument broke out between Israeli security forces and two French security guards. They were released immediately after identifying themselves as diplomats, the statement said.

The dispute casts a shadow over diplomatic relations already strained by Israeli military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

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

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said each visiting foreign leader was accompanied by their security personnel, a point that had been “clarified beforehand during the preparatory dialogue with the French Embassy in Israel.”

A French diplomatic source said Israeli authorities were spreading “false allegations” and that no closure had yet been drawn on the incident.

The Israeli ambassador in Paris will be summoned in the coming days, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Diplomatic relations between France and Israel have deteriorated since President Emmanuel Macron called for a halt to deliveries to Israel offensive weapons used in Gaza. The French government has also attempted to ban Israeli arms makers from exhibiting at a trade show in Paris and is increasingly concerned about Israel’s conduct in the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

French officials have repeatedly said that Paris is committed to Israel’s security and that its military helped defend Israel during Iranian missile attacks in early 2024.

Mr Barrot’s trip was aimed at pressuring Israel to engage diplomatically to end conflicts in the region now that the US presidential election is over.

This is not the first time tensions have arisen around France’s historic possessions in the city.

In 2020, Mr. Macron became angry when visiting St. Anne’s Church, another French-administered site, demanding that Israeli security personnel leave the Jerusalem basilica.

A similar incident occurred in 1996 involving then-French President Jacques Chirac, who considered his treatment by Israeli security a “provocation.” REUTERS