France Bans Israeli Minister as Settler Violence and Annexation Efforts Intensify

France's ban on an Israeli minister and sanctions by Western states fail to deter Israel's expansion in the West Bank, marked by increased settler violence and new military bases.

In a week marked by international condemnation, Israel has intensified its activities in the West Bank, undeterred by sanctions and accusations of ethnic cleansing. France’s decision to bar Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and other settler leaders, along with coordinated sanctions by six Western states, has done little to curb Israel’s expansionist policies.

Amnesty International’s accusation of a state-sponsored campaign of ethnic cleansing designed to accelerate annexation has further highlighted the escalating tensions in the region.

The Israeli cabinet’s approval of funding for dozens of new settlements and the legalization of outposts, coupled with the establishment of a permanent military base in Area A, underscores a significant shift in policy.

These moves come amidst a backdrop of increasing settler violence and displacement, with the international community expressing growing concern over the situation.

International Reactions and Israeli Responses

On June 9, France took a firm stance by banning Bezalel Smotrich and other settler leaders from entering the country.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot cited Smotrich’s promotion of West Bank annexation, the resettlement of Gaza, and the engineered economic collapse of the Palestinian Authority as reasons for the ban. The same day, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Norway, coordinating with Australia and New Zealand, sanctioned networks financing settler violence.

Amnesty International’s accusation on June 10 of a years-long, state-sponsored campaign of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank designed to accelerate annexation drew a strong response from the Israeli military, which rejected the charge. Addressing the UN Security Council, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a presumption of impunity across the occupied territory, citing settler violence now averaging six attacks per daydisplacement at levels not seen since 1967and an attempted annexation that he said would have no legal validity.

Israel’s response was swift and decisive. The cabinet moved to fund 69 settlements in a plan worth $388 million, bypassing standard planning procedures. Peace Now reported that the government has approved or legalized 103 settlements since late 2026, 51 of them entirely new. Many of the newly funded sites are in strategically sensitive areas, such as the South Hebron Hills and the Jordan Valley.

Settler Violence and Military Presence

The erosion of the Oslo Accords’ territorial divisions has become increasingly evident, with Israeli authorities establishing a permanent post in the Jenin refugee camp on June 11. This marks the first standing presence within Area A since the Oslo Accords, an area meant to be under full Palestinian civil and security control. The army stated that the post would regulate the deployment of forces.

As the cabinet weighed legalizing some of the most violent outposts, the drive to build new ones deeper into Palestinian-administered land played out most visibly northwest of Ramallah. In Deir Abu Mash’al, residents spent six consecutive days attempting to stop settlers from establishing an illegal outpost on al-Qarana hill. After villagers repeatedly dismantled a settler tent, settlers erected a second on June 15, attacking residents and a council member and injuring four Palestinians, one critically. Israeli forces fired tear gas and live ammunition, according to Wafa and local activists.

Settlers expanded outposts elsewhere, bringing mobile units to Karmeilo, east of al-Taybeh, unloading caravans at the Gharaba outpost northwest of Sinjil, and seizing hundreds of dunums across the Jalud, Qaryut, and Khirbet Sarra plains south of Nablus. Settler chat groups boasted of endless tours through Areas A and B and new outposts growing like mushrooms after rain.

Nightly raids continued to set Palestinian land on fire. On June 14, according to Wafa and local activists, 50 to 60 masked, armed settlers attacked Deir Dibwan and neighboring Burqa east of Ramallah, torching six vehicles, partially burning a home, and setting fire to the entrances of mosques in both villages before residents extinguished them. Settlers also assaulted residents and burned wheat fields near Nablus.

Bedouin Communities and Water Sabotage

Bedouin and herding communities continued to bear the brunt of harassment, water sabotage, and demolition orders aimed at forcing families off their land. According to documentation provided by local activists, Israeli authorities issued demolition and stop-work orders against 13 structures in al-Deirat and six in Khallet al-Hamous near Yatta. They demolished homes of the al-Zawahra family at Mikhmas and others east of Yatta, and razed a poultry slaughterhouse that supported 50 people in Ras Karkar.

On June 15, in the Ighziwah and Ma’in areas east of Yatta, forces demolished two family homes housing 25 people, two agricultural sheds, a perimeter wall, a 130-cubic-metre water well, and uprooted 20 trees in the properties of the Rab’i and Jabarin families, according to activist reports and photos.

The weaponization of water was repeated throughout the week as well. According to Wafa and local activists, settlers severed pipelines supplying two communities at Khan al-Ahmar, contaminated wells near Sa’ir, burned a well supplying Udala, stole pipes near a Bethlehem reservoir, and, with Israeli forces, seized five water tankers in Idhna. In addition, Nayef Khalaife told Al Jazeera that settlers again invaded his family home on June 12, emptying water tanks and damaging infrastructure.

OCHA reported that since January, more than 100 incidents have damaged or destroyed over 190 water and sanitation structures across the West Bank, cutting off at least 10 Masafer Yatta communities from the network.

Gaza’s Continuing Crisis

In Gaza, eight months into a nominal ceasefire, Israeli strikes, shelling, and gunfire continued to kill Palestinians daily. The Gaza Health Ministry’s post-ceasefire toll climbed past 990, and the cumulative toll since surpassed 73,000.

On June 14, an Israeli strike on a warehouse near the Yemen al-Sa’eed Hospital in Jabalia killed at least four people. On June 15, according to Wafa and local activist reports, attacks in Nuseirat, al-Zawayda, and Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood killed several civilians, including a four-year-old girl, while a detained child was reported killed the day after being seized with his father.

At the constantly shifting Yellow Line demarcating Israel’s continuing military control within Gaza, forces pushed forward under heavy fire into Tuffah and toward the al-Sanafour roundabout, advancing engineering units and bulldozers and triggering a fresh wave of displacement from eastern Gaza City, according to local reports. Zaki al-Qara, 30, was shot dead on June 14 near the Bani Suheila roundabout where vehicles had crossed the line. A three-year-old boy, Rayan Abu al-Ajeen, was shot and killed on his family farm near the line in Deir el-Balah.

Israeli officials, meanwhile, approved plans for a possible return to large-scale fighting, citing intelligence that Hamas had rebuilt parts of its infrastructure, Haaretz reported.

With aid entering Gaza still severely restricted, the humanitarian picture continues to worsen. OCHA said more than 70 percent of Gaza’s population depends on trucks of water, and funding shortfalls are threatening the supply. Fuel entering the Strip is down to barely a million litres for the week, and daily cooked-meal production has halved since March. Gaza’s health ministry said Israel was blocking at least 16,500 patients from leaving for treatment, among them Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who appeared by video link at an Israeli Supreme Court hearing showing what his lawyers called signs of torture following over 500 days in detention.