The French President visited Israel and the West Bank, particularly to promote the release of the hostages.
Full negotiations. Emmanuel Macron traveled to Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday, October 24, to meet the Israeli Prime Minister and the President of the Palestinian Authority. This visit comes after the Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7th. More than 1,400 people were killed, the vast majority of them civilians, including thirty French or French-Israeli citizens. According to Mahmoud Abbas, retaliatory strikes by the Israeli army on the 18th day of the war resulted in around 6,000 deaths. Here’s what you’ll remember from this day.
As the shelling of the Gaza Strip continues, international aid is becoming increasingly scarce
The strikes in Gaza have intensified in recent days. Hamas, which controls this 362 square kilometer area, home to 2.4 million Palestinians, reported a new toll of more than 5,791 deaths, including 2,360 children, since the war began.
In this context, small amounts of international aid have been arriving in the Gaza Strip via Egypt since Saturday. Some of the transported food, such as rice and lentils, could not be used for cooking due to a lack of water, complained on Tuesday the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), saying it was forced to suspend its operations in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening due to a lack of fuel.
Emmanuel wants an “international coalition” against Hamas
The French president spoke of a possible strategy in this war. Emmanuel Macron, together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, formulated a vaguely defined proposal to “build a regional and international coalition” to “fight” Hamas.
The Elysée then announced some details. “It’s about being inspired by the experiences of the international coalition against Daesh and finding out which aspects can be transferred against Hamas. We are therefore available to consider relevant approaches against Hamas together with our partners and Israel,” details of the presidency.
Mahmoud Abbas calls for “total ceasefire”
“We call for a complete ceasefire,” Mahmoud Abbas said during a joint statement with Emmanuel Macron in Ramallah, West Bank. “We call on you, President Macron, to put an end to this aggression,” the Palestinian Authority president stressed after the meeting.
According to the president of the Palestinian Authority, “6,000 Palestinians have died” since the war between Hamas and Israel began. “We condemned the killing of civilians on both sides,” he said.
The Hamas attack is “a catastrophe for the Palestinians too,” says Emmanuel Macron
The Hamas attack on Israel is “also a catastrophe for the Palestinians,” said Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, October 24th. “I would like to express my deepest condolences to all the victims of the spiral of violence caused by the Hamas attack,” affirmed the head of state. I see the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza. Nothing can justify this for France.”
Emmanuel Macron also advocated a political solution with the creation of a Palestinian state. “There will be no lasting peace if the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to a territory and a state is not recognized,” said Emmanuel Macron. The latter added: “And there will be no lasting peace unless the Palestinian people and their authorities recognize the alleged recognition of a State of Israel.”
Nine French people are missing or taken hostage
“The first goal is the release of the hostages.” Emmanuel Macron met his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem. “We have to organize targeted operations against terrorists,” he explained. In the morning he remembered
The president had previously met with about thirty French people in the lounges of Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, representing 18 families of the victims. In particular, relatives of Mia Shem, the French-Israeli woman held hostage and featured in a video broadcast by Hamas on October 16, were present.