France halts Gaza evacuations over antisemitism row involving student

DDM News

The French government has announced a complete suspension of evacuations from Gaza following a controversy involving a Palestinian student accused of reposting antisemitic content on social media.

Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that the decision was made public by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot during a live interview on France Info radio on Friday, August 2, 2025.

Barrot stated that the unnamed student, who had been evacuated from Gaza and was studying at a university in Lille, northern France, would be deported from the country.

He declared, “She must leave the country. She does not have a place in France,” though he did not clarify whether the woman would be returned to Gaza or another destination.

According to French authorities, the student was expelled from her university after investigations uncovered that she had shared posts on social media that were described as antisemitic and supportive of Hamas propaganda.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin also weighed in, asserting that the posts constituted a form of radical political messaging and should have disqualified her from ever entering France.

The uproar has ignited a nationwide political storm in France, with media outlets dedicating extensive coverage to the issue.

Barrot admitted that both French and Israeli vetting processes failed to detect the problematic social media activity before the woman’s arrival in France.

As a consequence, the French government announced an immediate freeze on all evacuations from the Gaza Strip.

This includes humanitarian efforts and the extraction of French citizens, aid workers, and journalists who remain trapped in the conflict zone.

Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, France has been actively engaged in evacuating hundreds of individuals from Gaza, prioritizing journalists, aid workers, and vulnerable civilians.

Just days earlier, the French foreign minister had highlighted ongoing efforts to evacuate starving journalists from the French news agency AFP who remain stuck inside the enclave.

Barrot described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “inhumane” and a “scandal that must stop immediately,” but emphasized that security and national interest must come first.

The foreign ministry has yet to announce whether or when evacuations will resume, stating that a full review is underway to strengthen vetting and background checks.

Observers say this latest development signals growing tensions in France over Middle East policy, immigration, and rising antisemitism, which have increasingly become flashpoints in European politics.

The deportation move has drawn mixed reactions from human rights groups and pro-Palestinian advocates who argue that it unfairly punishes a civilian caught in a humanitarian crisis, while others support the government’s stance as a matter of national security.

For now, the fate of Gaza’s stranded evacuees and the student at the center of the controversy remain uncertain.

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