A Sh A Thursday, February 15, 2024 07:11 PM
Deputy spokesman for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lemoine, stressed France’s opposition to a possible Israeli attack on the Palestinian Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, stressing that his country calls on the Israelis to take into account the consequences of such an attack, which would be “catastrophic.”
Le Moyne said – in exclusive statements to the Middle East News Agency correspondent: “We are trying to ensure that this operation does not happen, and we call on the Israelis to take seriously into consideration the consequences of such an attack, which would be disastrous for us,” referring to the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday during a phone call with… Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his opposition to an Israeli attack on Rafah, which could only lead to a humanitarian disaster.
The French official also referred to the measures taken by France recently related to prohibiting the entry of extremist Israeli settlers into its lands, saying, “It is a list that includes 28 people, classified into two categories. There are people who have already been convicted by the Israeli judiciary for acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and also people.” Others are known to have committed acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.”
He said: “This measure that France recently took is important because it conveys a message that we need in any case a two-state solution, and that this type of behavior does not help to resolve the conflict, and does not help at all to achieve the two-state solution.”
On the other hand, Le Moyne referred to the discussions held by Foreign Minister Stephane Ségournet during his recent tour to the Middle East, especially to Egypt, describing them as “very constructive.” They dealt with the regional situation, especially the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, stressing that Egypt is an important partner for France. Especially with regard to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza.
Le Moyne said: “The minister’s visit to the region was very rich. He spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Egyptian counterpart and held very constructive discussions about French-Egyptian relations, and also about the regional situation, especially the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.”
He added, “There were many issues that were addressed, but above all with regard to humanitarian aid, and Egypt is an important partner for France, especially with regard to delivering this aid to the residents of Gaza, as much of this aid clearly reaches Gaza via Egypt.”
He continued, saying: “On this occasion, Minister Ségournet thanked his Egyptian counterpart for all the assistance and facilities provided by Egypt to enable the delivery of French humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing to the residents of Gaza.”
During the French Foreign Minister’s visit to the region, he discussed how to continue delivering this aid to the residents of Gaza, pointing to the French helicopter carrier “Dexmod”, which was transformed into a medical ship designated to provide medical care to the injured in the Gaza Strip and was docked at the port of Al-Arish and ended its mission at the end of last January. .
He continued: “We are still transporting cargo and we are still providing support through various initiatives. The Dixmod ship left because there was time for it to be there and it should not stay for a longer period, so we are thinking of other ways and continuing everything that has been committed to in terms of delivering cargo and in terms of receiving children.” In Gaza, the injured are in French hospitals, and we continue all of this, and therefore Dexmod’s departure does not mean the end of aid. On the contrary, we are thinking of other ways to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”
In addition, the French official spoke about the process of evacuating French nationals from the Gaza Strip, saying: “We were able to ensure the evacuation of 42 people from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, and we thank the Egyptian authorities who were very active in this evacuation process, as well as the Israeli authorities.”
He pointed out that there are more than 200 people who have been evacuated since November 2023, and this is the result of the initiatives taken by France at the highest level, especially during the minister’s visit to the region. He pointed out that the evacuation process includes nationals who hold French citizenship, their ancestors and grandchildren, as well as employees of the French Institute in Gaza and any… A person holding a French residence permit.
French Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Christophe Lemoyne said: “We will continue our efforts to evacuate other people again because there are still some and we hope that we will be able to get them out of Gaza soon.”
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2024-02-15 17:11:00
