Israel on Sunday named 20 foreign NGOs whose representatives are barred from its territory, saying that they support a boycott of the Jewish state over its occupation of Palestinian territory. Publication of the list of groups from Europe, the United States, Chile and South Africa follows legislation in March banning entry to foreigners who support boycotting the country or its settlements, which are seen as illegal under international law.

Rights groups criticised the law as "thought control" and noted that Israel also controls who enters the Palestinian territories apart from one border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. "We have moved from defence to attack. The boycott organisations need to know that the state of Israel will act against them and will not allow them to enter its territory in order to harm its citizens," Public Security and Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan wrote in a Hebrew-language statement.

Among the banned groups are the Paris-based Association France Palestine Solidarite, British charity War on Want and the American Friends Service Committee - a Nobel Peace Prize-winning US Quaker organisation. South African, French, Italian and Chilean branches of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) also featured on the blacklist.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018