French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel BarrotXose Bouzas/Hans Lucas/Reuters

France is considering new sanctions against those facilitating the expansion of “Israeli settlements” in Judea and Samaria, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday.

"France has been a driving force to establish the first sanction regime at the European level targeting individuals or entities, either actors or accomplices of settlement activities," Barrot stated after discussions with Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, as quoted by AFP.

"This regime has been activated two times already, and we're working on a third batch of sanctions targeting these activities that again are illegal with respect to international law," added Barrot.

The Foreign Minister reiterated France's support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict and warned that settlement activities "threaten the political perspective that can ensure durable peace for Israel and Palestine."

In February, France decided to impose sanctions against 28 residents of Judea and Samaria, after Britain and the US announced a similar decision.

The French Foreign Ministry said at the time that "these steps are in line with the increase in settler violence against the Palestinian population in recent months."

"As we have said on many occasions, Israel is responsible to put an end to this and prosecute the perpetrators of the violence."

French President Emmanuel Macron has also grown increasingly critical of Israel’s counterterrorism operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

In August, Macron told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "avoid a cycle of reprisals" in the Middle East in a conversation which took place following the eliminations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

Previously, Macron spoke to Netanyahu and urged him to prevent a "conflagration" between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon despite Hezbollah's near-daily rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel since October 8, 2023.

Last month, the French President said that "stopping the export of weapons" used by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon was the only way to end fighting there.

Later, Israeli delegations were banned from exhibiting at the Euronaval defense show taking place in France. Last week, a court in Paris overturned the ban and decided to allow Israeli companies to participate in the show.