IMAGE: French President Emmanuel Macron (L) meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during an official visit in Riyadh on December 2, 2024. (Source: Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP):
On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot urged Israel to allow the immediate and unrestricted resumption of aid to Gaza after Prime Minister Netanyahu announced a ‘basic amount’ of assistance. Barrot stated on X, “After three months of negotiations, the Israeli government has finally declared the reopening of humanitarian aid to Gaza. This aid must be immediate, substantial, and unrestricted.’
On March 4, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his support for the Arab League-Gaza reconstruction initiative to establish new Palestinian governance under the Palestinian Authority. The same month, Macron revealed the nature of a conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during which he expressed his intention to co-host a conference to promote a two-state solution and revitalise the political landscape for Israelis and Palestinians. At a press conference in early April with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Macron announced that the ‘Two States” conference will be planned in close partnership with regional allies, including Cairo. The French and Saudi-backed conference will be held from June 17 to 20 at the UN headquarters in New York and will be organised by the UN General Assembly. Nearly 150 countries have recognised the State of Palestine, which has observer status at the United Nations; however, it is not a full member because it has not received a Security Council vote supporting its admission.
IMAGE: A screen shows the results of the vote on the resolution entitled Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine at the General Assembly 46th plenary meeting on December 3, 2024, at the UN headquarters in New York City (Source: AFP)
In May 2024, Ireland, Norway, and Spain recognised a Palestinian state, while France and other European countries have not. President Macron hinted on April 8, during an interview on French TV channel ‘France 5’, that France might recognise Palestine in June, during the planned conference in New York with Saudi Arabia, where both nations will promote this recognition, but also encourage states to recognise Israel. The Israeli administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are resolutely against any such action. During the interview, Macron stated:
“We must move towards the recognition of the State of Palestine, and therefore in the coming months, we will proceed in that direction,” stated Macron. “I will not do this for the sake of unity or to appease anyone. I will do it because I believe that at some point, it will be the right thing to do.”
During the weekend, the escalation of violence in Gaza has intensified, leading to widespread denunciations of Israel across Europe and globally. Meanwhile, a progressively isolated Benjamin Netanyahu took the opportunity earlier today to release a video on his Telegram account to announce. that Israel intends to take full control of the Gaza Strip, adding that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will secure the area, while asserting, “We are not giving in. But to succeed, we must act in such a way that we cannot be stopped.” French outlet L’Express has the story…
IMAGE: Amnesty International says Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, Israel rejects the allegations (Source: PBS)
Théodore Azouze reports for L’Express…
(Translated from English to French)
War in Gaza: International condemnation of Israel’s new offensive grows
Middle East: Spain and Egypt have denounced the intensification of Israel’s war in the Palestinian enclave. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also declared this Saturday: “Enough is enough.”
The international community is speaking out against the Israeli strikes in Gaza. In recent hours, the Jewish state has intensified its offensive in the Palestinian enclave. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has justified the deadly bombings as a continuation of its war launched after the terrorist attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023. “This is part of the initial stages […] of the expansion of the offensive in the Gaza Strip, with the aim of achieving all the objectives of the war, including the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” the Israeli army explained.
Several countries reacted this Saturday to the strengthening of Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip, already exhausted after months of fighting and on the verge of famine. At an Arab League summit held this Saturday, May 17, in Baghdad, Iraq, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on his American counterpart, Donald Trump on Saturday to “deploy all necessary efforts and to put pressure” on Israel to obtain a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory. The leader, whose country borders Gaza, believes that the greater involvement of the American president in this objective would allow “the launch of a political process.”
Strikes that “flout” the “principle of humanity,” according to Madrid
On the European side, Madrid and Rome have also both raised their voices against the Israeli government. “The extremely serious humanitarian crisis that Gaza has been suffering since October 2023 has caused more than 50,000 deaths, 100,000 injured and two million displaced people,” recalled Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was also participating in the Arab League summit this Saturday. These figures are “unacceptable” and “flout” the “principle of humanity,” according to him. The socialist leader, therefore, called for “intensifying our pressure on Israel to stop the massacre in Gaza, particularly through the channels offered to us by international law.”
Highly critical of the Netanyahu government’s policies in recent months, Spain has decided to submit to the United Nations General Assembly “a proposal to ask the International Court of Justice to rule on Israel’s compliance with its international obligations regarding access to humanitarian aid in Gaza.” Pedro Sánchez also urged “other countries” to officially recognise the State of Palestine, something Spain already did last year, as did Ireland, Slovenia, and Norway in Europe.
Italy’s turnaround
The Italian government, for its part, is beginning to speak out against the “unacceptable” humanitarian situation in Gaza, according to Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday, May 14. The far-right Prime Minister had spoken of “often difficult” discussions with her Israeli counterpart on the issue. This position was reiterated this Saturday by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani during a trip to Sicily. “We no longer want to see the Palestinian population suffer,” the official urged, according to comments reported by his entourage. “Enough with the attacks. Let’s reach a ceasefire, release the hostages, but let’s leave in peace a people who are victims of Hamas.”
An international conference will be held from June 17 to 20 in New York, United States, to revive a “two-state” solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, this summit, organised within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly, is expected to be an opportunity “to announce rapid, irreversible actions with deadlines” aimed at broad recognition of Palestine as a full-fledged state. On Tuesday, during an interview with TF1, French President Emmanuel Macron called Israel’s actions in Gaza a “shame.” These remarks angered Benjamin Netanyahu.
German diplomacy expresses concern
More timidly, Berlin expressed its “deep concern” on Saturday about the situation in Gaza, where the Israeli offensive “could endanger the lives of the remaining hostages, including those of the German hostages,” the German Foreign Ministry stressed. “An extensive military offensive also carries the risk that the catastrophic humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza and that of the remaining hostages will deteriorate further, and that the prospect of a lasting and urgently needed ceasefire will recede,” the ministry said in a statement.
Germany, which has elevated Israel’s existence to the status of a raison d’état, is one of the country’s most loyal supporters and remains very measured in its comments on the Israeli government’s war in the Gaza Strip.
Arab League leaders pledge to help rebuild Gaza, an alternative to Donald Trump’s proposal
In its closing statement on Saturday, May 17, the Arab summit called for increased international pressure to “stop the bloodshed” in the Gaza Strip and “guarantee the entry of urgent humanitarian aid.” The statement also called for funding for an Arab plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by Israel’s war against Hamas. Arab leaders “urge countries and international and regional financial institutions to quickly provide the necessary financial support” for an Arab plan for the reconstruction of Gaza, presented as an alternative to the widely condemned proposal by US President Donald Trump, who had said he wanted to take control of the territory.
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