The French Foreign Ministry has summoned the Israeli chargé d’affaires in Paris to account for the “intrusion” of Israeli security forces on the French Institute in Jerusalem on Thursday.

In comments to the press on Friday, the ministry said: “Such acts represent a serious and unacceptable attack on the functioning of our cultural network in Jerusalem.”

Israeli security forces entered the French cultural center in east Jerusalem to shut down an event authorities claimed involved a women’s group supported by the Palestinian Authority, which is banned from operating in Israeli territory.

Event participants denied the allegation, the Times of Israel reports, and say it was being held to celebrate Mother’s Day and featured crafts made by local women. Israeli police and the French consul did not respond to media queries about the incident.

“France intends to maintain and develop its dense and long-standing relations with Palestinian civil society,” the French Ministry added in its statement.

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