The 33-year-old center-forward, whose last was on October 8, 2015, is on the list unveiled on Tuesday, along with never-before-called Sevilla FC defender Jules Koundé and Mönchengladbach striker Marcus Thuram (3 selections).
Benzema, author of a successful season with Real Madrid (29 goals in 45 games), has 81 caps and 27 goals with the Blues.
His last outing with the Blues ended in a double against Armenia (4-0) on October 8, 2015 in Nice.
Suspected of having participated in a blackmail attempt targeting his former teammate with the Blues, Mathieu Valbuena, the player trained in Lyon will be tried by the court of Versailles from October 20 to 22, 2021.
Before Euro-2016, his sidelining had been justified by “the exemplary nature and preservation of the group” in a press release co-signed by Deschamps and the president of the French Football Federation, Noël Le Graët.
In reaction, Benzema had accused the coach of having "yielded under the pressure of a racist part of France", two days before the Breton residence of Deschamps was vandalized, with a tag calling him "racist".
The boss of the 2018 world champions, strongly affected by this episode, has yet integrated the name of "KB9" in the list announced Tuesday on TF1 and M 6, the two broadcasters of the Euro.
"I have always ignored my personal case, the France team does not belong to me, it is above everything," explained Deschamps.
Read also List of 26 for the Euro: the return of Benzema, the promise of a dream attack
Barring injury, goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris will participate in the European Championship, like Benjamin Pavard, Raphaël Varane, Lucas Hernandez, N'Golo Kanté, Paul Pogba, Adrien Rabiot, Kylian Mbappé or Antoine Griezmann. Despite an extremely short playing time at Chelsea, Olivier Giroud is also part of the list, the final version of which must be sent to UEFA on 1 June. At 34, the second top scorer in the history of the Blues (44 goals in 107 games) will be on the trip in the company of Wissam Ben Yedder and Ousmane Dembélé, other attackers summoned by Deschamps. Anthony Martial, recently injured, is not called.