Israel on Sunday barred nearly 80 foreigners from flying into the occupied territories, claiming that they were linked to the “Welcome to Palestine” campaign, AFP reported.

Israel on Sunday barred nearly 80 foreigners from flying into the occupied territories, claiming that they were linked to the “Welcome to Palestine” campaign, AFP reported.

Among those detained were 51 French nationals, 11 Britons, six Italians, five Canadians, two Spanish nationals and three others from Switzerland, Portugal and the United States.

The news agency quoted Spokeswoman Luba Samri as saying that “18 people were sent back to their port of origin, while another 60 had refused to leave voluntarily and had been taken to two facilities near Tel Aviv.

Haaretz reported that forty percent of the names barred from entering Sunday were not for certain related to the campaign, which sparked anger among passengers.

The Israeli daily further quoted one of the campaign organizers as saying that “the security forces in France and Israel treated us like criminals… It's very frustrating and surprising that the authorities cooperated with the Israeli claims and propaganda.”

Europe had cooperated with the Zionist entity Sunday, preventing at least 300 activists from taking off to the occupied territories.

For its part, the Israeli police, which was deployed in big numbers, made a number of arrests and deportations at the airport.