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00:00A tense confrontation between Israeli police and two French security officials at the French-administered
00:10Eliona church compound in Jerusalem.
00:14The officials were accompanying French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barraud on a trip to the
00:18city.
00:21Israeli security forces had been told not to enter the site before Barraud's visit,
00:25but did so, though it remains unclear why, and briefly arrested the French security officials.
00:32The incident prompted Barraud to cancel his visit to the site.
00:42The Israeli security forces entered, armed, without having obtained authorization in advance
00:47from France nor having agreed to leave.
00:53I wish to say firmly and seriously that this situation is unacceptable.
00:58This attack on the integrity of a domain placed under the responsibility of France is likely
01:02to weaken the bonds which we have come to cultivate with Israel.
01:12Barraud was on a trip to the Middle East to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
01:16France has summoned the Israeli ambassador as a result of the incident.
01:21The Israeli Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, insisted that every visiting foreign leader
01:25is accompanied by its security personnel, and that this had been clarified before Barraud's visit.
01:32Tensions have previously arisen on sites under French administration in the city.
01:37Four years ago when visiting the church of St Anne, President Macron rebuked an Israeli
01:42police officer during a crush of people.
01:46Similarly, in 1996, Jacques Chirac became angry after being surrounded closely by Israeli soldiers.
02:04The incident puts further strain on the relationship between France and Israel, already tense amid
02:09Israel's military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.