France halts all evacuations from Gaza over alleged antisemitic reposts by Palestinian student

By Michael Rios, Saskya Vandoorne, Joseph Ataman, CNN

(CNN) — The French government will deport a Gaza student accused of reposting alleged antisemitic content on her social media and halt all evacuations from the territory, the country’s foreign minister said Friday as outrage grows over her reposts.

“She must leave the country. She does not have a place in France,” Jean-Noël Barrot said in an interview with radio station France Info, without saying if authorities would return the student back to Gaza.

The foreign minister did not name the woman, who has also been expelled from her university in the northern French city of Lille.

The incident has sparked a political firestorm, dominating French news coverage with the interior minister saying her content amounts to “Hamas propaganda.”

The French and Israeli vetting of her before she arrived in France did not reveal the “antisemitic and unacceptable” posts, Barrot said, adding that all French evacuations from Gaza would now be suspended pending the results of an inquiry into the case.

France has evacuated hundreds of people from Gaza since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, and just last Tuesday Barrot said France was “dedicating lots of energy,” to get starving journalists from French news agency AFP out of the enclave. The foreign ministry has yet to say if these evacuations will continue.

Barrot added that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “inhumane,” describing it as a “scandal that must stop immediately.”

The woman’s university, Sciences Po Lille, did not specify the posts that drew controversy, but said the content was “in direct contradiction” with its values.

“(Sciences Po Lille) fights against all forms of racism, antisemitism, and discrimination, as well as against any type of call to hatred, against any population whatsoever,” the university said on X on Wednesday.

The college said it had annulled the student’s enrolment after consulting with several government agencies including the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, whose minister called the student’s alleged comments “extreme.”

“France does not have to welcome international students who advocate for terrorism, crimes against humanity, and antisemitism. Whether they come from Gaza or elsewhere, international students holding or relaying such statements have no place in our country,” the minister, Philippe Baptiste, wrote on X.

Other senior ministers echoed the outrage at the student’s posts and said the matter had been referred to the judicial authorities.

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