Israel must stop bombing Gaza and killing civilians, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with the BBC this evening.
Macron said there was “no justification” for the “bombing of babies” and said a ceasefire would benefit Israel.
He said that France “unequivocally condemns” Hamas’s “terrorist” actions, but that while we recognize Israel’s right to protect itself, we “urge them to stop this bombing” in Gaza.
Asked whether he wanted other leaders – including the US and Britain – to join his calls for a ceasefire, Macron said: “I hope they will.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said there was “no justification” for Israel’s continued bombing of Gaza and said a ceasefire would benefit Israel
President Joe Biden said there was no hope at all for a ceasefire in Gaza as he left the White House for a trip to Illinois on Thursday
In the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has advocated “targeted pauses” in the Israel-Hamas conflict but also rejected calls for a ceasefire
Israel is facing increasing calls for restraint in its months-long war with Hamas, but says Gaza-based militants who attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and took hostages would take advantage of a ceasefire to regroup.
The day after a humanitarian aid conference in Paris on the war in Gaza, Macron said the “clear conclusion” of all governments and authorities present at that summit was “that there is no solution other than, first of all, a humanitarian pause and a ceasefire.” will enable the protection of all civilians who have nothing to do with terrorists.
“De facto – today civilians are being bombed – de facto.”
“These babies, these ladies, these old people are being bombed and killed.” So there is no reason or legitimacy for that. That’s why we call on Israel to stop doing this,” he said.
As US President Joe Biden left the White House for Illinois yesterday, he dismissed the chances of a ceasefire, stressing that there was “no possibility, none.”
In the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has advocated “targeted pauses” in the Israel-Hamas conflict but also rejected calls for a ceasefire.
Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out any talks about ending hostilities in Gaza and accused Democratic US Rep. Rashida Tlaib of calling for “genocide” against the Jewish people when he vowed to win the war against Hamas.
The Israeli leader lashed out at anti-Israel protesters at US colleges, accusing them of “moral depravity.” He vowed to continue the war in Gaza “however long it takes.”
Speaking on Fox News, the Israeli leader dismissed suggestions of a rift with the White House after agreeing to Joe Biden’s call for a second humanitarian corridor outside the northern Gaza Strip.
But he insisted there would be no ceasefire after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis and took hundreds more hostage.
“A ceasefire with Hamas means surrender to Hamas and to terror,” he added.
In this video image, at the top right, a projectile can be seen flying through the air, seconds before an explosion rocked Al-Shifa Hospital overnight
Footage from the courtyard of Al-Shifa Hospital overnight appeared to show one of the attacks, although it was not possible to verify its origin from the footage
Fighting continued in Gaza yesterday, with the Palestinian death toll approaching 11,000
A map showing the locations of the three hospitals that Hamas officials claimed were targeted by Israeli strikes overnight
“We will continue until we eradicate Hamas, and nothing will stop that.”
But the White House announced Thursday that Israel has agreed to open a second corridor for civilians to escape the northern Gaza Strip – along the territory’s coastal highway – joining the first corridor, which runs along its main north-south highway was set up.
In the wake of the attack on Hamas in northern Gaza, a series of daily four-hour humanitarian pauses will be put into effect to free the hostages.
And Netanyahu suggested that the release of the 239 hostages seized by Hamas could make a difference.
“Without the release of the Israeli hostages there will be no ceasefire, that will not happen,” he said.
Indirect talks about a major release of hostages have been taking place in Qatar, which also played a role in Hamas’s release of four hostages last month.
CIA Director William Burns was in Doha on Thursday to speak with the Qatari prime minister and the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency about efforts to release hostages in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls for a ceasefire and vowed to continue the war in Gaza “for however long it takes,” while sharply criticizing Western protests
Israeli forces claimed to have found a missile and drone production site next to a children’s bedroom in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of northern Gaza
Amal al-Robayaa’s children eat their meals amid the ruins of the family’s home, which was destroyed in an Israeli attack in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip
Palestinians continue to flee the epicenter of fighting in the northern Gaza Strip for the relative safety of the south
The Israeli government has agreed to the White House’s demands for a second humanitarian corridor from the north of the Gaza Strip to the south
But the Israeli prime minister insisted that Hamas would be destroyed before the war ends and Gaza is “demilitarized and deradicalized.”
And he praised Congress for voting to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan over her repeated calls for a free Palestine “from the river to the sea.”
She also accused Biden of supporting “genocide” in Gaza and “complicity” in the deaths of children in the Middle East.
“From the river to the sea there is no Israel, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, which by the way is a tiny area that includes Israel, there is no Israel,” Netanyahu replied.
According to Israel, 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed and about 240 were taken hostage by Hamas in the October 7 raid that triggered the Israeli attack.
Israel says it has lost 35 soldiers in Gaza.
Palestinian officials said 10,812 Gazans had been killed by air and artillery strikes as of Thursday, about 40 percent of them children.
Israel’s military advance on the center of Gaza City, which brought tanks within a mile of Al Shifa, has raised questions about how Israel will interpret international laws protecting medical centers and displaced people there, according to residents.
Deadly airstrikes on refugee camps, a medical convoy and near hospitals have already sparked heated arguments among some of Israel’s Western allies over its military’s compliance with international law.
Meanwhile, Israel has agreed to a pause in its offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, intended to allow some civilians to flee heavy fighting, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out a broader ceasefire as a “surrender” to Hamas.
When asked if there would be a “stop” in the fighting, Netanyahu replied on Fox News Channel: “No.” The fighting against the Hamas enemy, the Hamas terrorists, continues, but in certain places we want for to allow the safe passage of civilians out of the combat zone for a certain period of time of a few hours here or a few hours there, and that’s what we’re doing.’
Palestinians sit by the bodies of the Hijazi family killed in the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip in Rafah on Friday, November 10
Israeli army flares light up the sky over western Gaza, November 9
The Israeli military has allowed some wounded Palestinian civilians to enter Egypt for treatment.
US President Joe Biden said in a post on Thursday that Israel has a “duty to distinguish between terrorists and civilians and to fully comply with international law.”
The White House confirmed on Thursday that Israel had agreed to suspend military operations in parts of the northern Gaza Strip for four hours a day.
The breaks, which would allow people to escape along two humanitarian corridors and could be used to release hostages, are significant first steps, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
Aid groups are calling for a full ceasefire and warning of a humanitarian “catastrophe” in Gaza, where food, water and medicine are in short supply.
“When I wake up, the first thing I think about is: How am I going to feed the children today,” Amal al-Robayaa told AFP in Rafah, where she was taking refuge with her husband, six children and daughter-in-law and two grandchildren a UN school.
Cecile Duflot, director of Oxfam France, said staff reported “the worst and most tragic situation they have ever experienced in the area.”
Complicating matters for Israel’s military advance is the fate of the approximately 240 hostages kidnapped on October 7th.
CIA Director Bill Burns and David Barnea, head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, were in Doha for talks on pauses that would include the release of hostages and more aid to Gaza, an official told AFP.
The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad released a video on Thursday purporting to show two hostages – a woman in her 70s and a 13-year-old boy – which, if confirmed, would suggest that not all of the prisoners are from the Hamas will be held.
The Israeli military described the video as “psychological terrorism.”
Four hostages have been released so far, and desperate relatives of those still detained are putting pressure on Israeli and US authorities to secure the release of their loved ones.