The French President “unequivocally” demands a ceasefire in Gaza
On November 10, the French President made statements to the BBC, in which he addressed the ongoing war in Gaza since October 7.
In this interview, which took place the day after a humanitarian conference held at the Elysee Palace to help civilians in the Gaza Strip, Emmanuel Macron said verbatim: “We share (Israel’s) pain, and we share its desire to get rid of terrorism, but today there are civilians being bombed. These children, these women, these elderly people are being bombed and killed.” His conclusion: “There is no justification or any legitimacy for this. “So we urge Israel to stop.”
At the time, Macron’s words came when the number of Palestinian deaths had exceeded 11,000 victims, about half of whom were children, according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.
Of course, Israel did not attach any importance to the invitation of the French President, who not only stood by its side in its war against Hamas, but also called on Israel, which he visited on October 24, to launch a regional-international force to fight it, similar to the international coalition to fight ISIS. .
Destruction and civilian casualties in Gaza as a result of the Israeli bombing (AFP)
But his words to British television aroused the wrath of the Israeli Prime Minister, who responded to him the next day, in a press conference, by saying that Macron “is committing a dangerous mistake at the level of current events, and also at the moral level.” Because he implied that Israel was deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians. In view of the Israeli and Jewish protests in France, Macron quickly called President Isaac Herzog, to clarify that he “did not say that Israel is deliberately hitting civilians.”
At that time, France was not calling for a ceasefire. Rather, its official position was to call for “humanitarian truces that could lead to a permanent ceasefire.”
However, it should be noted that Paris voted twice in favor of a humanitarian “ceasefire” in the Security Council. It also voted in favor of the law that the UAE submitted a draft, but in the end it did not include a call for a ceasefire. Because of the American opposition, he focused only on delivering humanitarian aid. However, with or without a Security Council resolution, statements from the highest officials indicate that Israel is continuing its war on Gaza and does not intend to stop. Indeed, some of them believe that the war will last for additional months.
Direct call
Today, after the number of victims doubled compared to what it was last November, France departed from its first formula and began calling directly and without ambiguity for a ceasefire, which was stated in a statement issued by the Elysee Palace following the phone call, on Wednesday evening, between Macron and Netanyahu. .
A Palestinian girl cries after the Israeli bombing of an UNRWA school housing displaced persons in the Gaza Strip (Reuters)
However, what has not yet been issued, neither by the French Foreign Ministry nor by the Presidency of the Republic, is a “condemnation” of the Israeli bombing, which caused more than 21,000 victims and three times this number of wounded, in addition to the destruction of housing, civilian infrastructure, mosques, churches, and hospitals.
The Elysee statement says that Macron expressed to the Israeli Prime Minister “his deep concern about the heavy casualties among civilians and the absolute humanitarian emergency facing the civilian population in Gaza,” reminding him of “Israel’s duty to protect civilians, the necessity of delivering the necessary assistance to the residents of Gaza, and the necessity of Working towards a sustainable ceasefire with the help of all regional and international partners.”
On the humanitarian level, the Elysee indicated that France “will work in the coming days, in cooperation with Jordan, to implement humanitarian operations in Gaza.”
Lebanon paper
Political sources in Paris believe that the French President’s call for a ceasefire “will not find listening ears in Israel,” describing the pressure cards that Paris possesses as “practically nonexistent,” even though France has been keen from the beginning “not to embarrass Israel,” which was clearly demonstrated in Its silence regarding the attack on the French Cultural Center in Gaza and the targeting of the Agence France-Presse office, and also upon the killing of a Palestinian employee working for the French Consulate in Jerusalem, where the French Foreign Ministry contented itself with a mild “condemnation,” and demanded that the details and circumstances of the bombing that targeted a house in which the aforementioned employee had taken refuge be revealed. With others, it resulted in 11 casualties.
Fire rises from a building after a raid on what the Israeli army says are Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, November 24 (Reuters)
Because focusing on humanitarian work does not in itself constitute an alternative to political and diplomatic work, Paris is active in other files related to the war in Gaza, most notably the Lebanese file.
The Elysee statement said that Macron “presented the efforts made by France to prevent the outbreak of war regionally, specifically the messages that Paris sent to Iran and to the groups associated with it in order to stay away from the conflict.” Macron, in particular, reiterated “the importance of fully implementing International Resolution No. 1701 issued by the Security Council,” which stipulates that the area between the Lebanese-Israeli border and the Litani River be evacuated of weapons and militias, in reference to “Hezbollah.”
In the same context, Macron indicated that Paris “continues to work, in coordination with its international partners, in order to avoid escalation on both sides of the Blue Line” drawn by the United Nations between Lebanon and Israel. Finally, Macron repeated “messages of restraint and warning addressed to all concerned parties.”
The truth of the matter is that Paris considers itself likely to be able to play a role regarding the escalation between Hezbollah and Israel. For this purpose, French officials, ministers and security officials visited Lebanon successively, the most recent of which was Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who visited Beirut on the 18th of this month. Week after week, Paris was warning Lebanon that the continuation of skirmishes on both sides of the border might escape its rein, and that Israel was “serious” in its determination to remove Hezbollah from its borders, and that Lebanon was unable to bear the burdens of a new war with Israel, and the path to… Avoiding it lies in implementing the content of Resolution 1701.
However, a sentence said by President Macron in a lengthy television interview, on the night of December 20th, may have spoiled the relationship with “Hezbollah,” as he described it for the first time, publicly, as a “terrorist party,” noting that Paris has always opposed the status of a “party.” God” is on the European terrorist list, and it is in constant contact with him.
Palestinians inspect a burning car in the village of Qarawa near Salfit on December 3, as settlers attacked two Palestinian villages in the West Bank (EPA)
Settlement and the West Bank
There is another file in which Paris wants to have a role, which deals with settler violence in the West Bank against the Palestinians. Hence, Macron’s “focus” on “the importance of Israel taking all necessary measures to put an end to the violence committed by some settlers against Palestinian civilians, and to put an end to all settlement projects in the West Bank that threaten the two-state solution, which alone can guarantee Israel’s security in the long term.” And responding to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians.”
Will Israel respond? The answer is definitely no; Because Israeli calculations do not match French calculations, and because the only party capable of twisting its arm is in Washington if it has the political will for an initiative of this kind, which is uncertain.
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2023-12-29 12:15:52
