A French court ordered the town hall of Vaulx-en-Velin, a suburb of Lyon, to remove a Palestinian flag flying from its facade, ruling that it breached the principle of neutrality in public services, Anadolu reports.
The Lyon administrative court, ruling in an emergency procedure brought by the Rhone prefect, ordered the flag to be removed without delay and imposed a fine of 100 euros ($117) for each day of non-compliance.
![Palestinian, French and European Union flags fly outside the town hall in Vaulx-en-Velin, an eastern suburb of Lyon, France, on July 11, 2026. [Mathieu Prudhomme - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/AA-20260711-41952708-41952707-FRENCH_COURT_ORDERS_REMOVAL_OF_PALESTINIAN_FLAG_FROM_VAULXENVELIN_TOWN_HALL-1.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
The Palestinian flag was raised on July 4 during a municipal event and displayed alongside the French and European flags.
Israel on Thursday denied entry to a French journalist and deported her to Paris over her criticism of Israel’s two-year genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu reports.
Israeli Communications Minister Amichai Chikli said in a post on US social media company X that French journalist Alice Froussard was leaving Ben Gurion Airport and returning to France.
![Israeli border police check the passports of tourists in the occupied West Bank. [Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/GettyImages-1236679218-3.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
I am pleased to announce that Alice Froussard, the pro-Hamas French journalist who believes the Oct. 7 massacre should be viewed in context, is leaving Ben Gurion Airport on her way back to Paris, Chikli wrote.
According to Israeli news website The Times of Israel, the Foreign Ministry said Froussard arrived in Israel on Thursday for work but was stopped and placed on a return flight to France.
The ministry claimed that investigators found that the journalist had made a series of statements deemed hostile to Israel, including describing Israeli military operations in Gaza as a massacre, accusing Israel of apartheid and allegedly justifying the Oct. 7, 2023 events.
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Froussard did not immediately comment on her deportation or the allegations against her.
According to The Times of Israel, Froussard has spent the past six years living and working in Jerusalem and Ramallah and has worked for several French media outlets, including Radio France Internationale (RFI), France Culture, Le Figaro, TV5 Monde and Mediapart.
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The report said the French Embassy in Israel expressed strong dissatisfaction with the decision.
Israel has deported and barred entry to several foreign journalists and activists in recent months over criticism of Israeli policies and actions.
The Israeli army has killed nearly 73,000 people and injured over 173,000 others, mostly women and children, in a brutal offensive in Gaza since October 2023, that has also caused widespread destruction to 90% of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure.
Middle East Monitor / ABC Flash Point News 2026.
France is not to be trusted.
Biggest population of Jewish people in the world — Israel = approx 7 million . Second – America = approx 6 million + –Third – France = approx 500,000 . When you add up the rest it never fails to amaze me that a race of people with such a small overall world population have such a massive political/social/religious / financial control over much of the world . Look at the USA and its large population being controlled by a few percentage of the US population because in reality that is what is actually happening -name me another country or… Read more »