France’s Macron: Fighting terror does not mean ‘flattening Gaza’
French president warns against attacking civilian populations ‘indiscriminately,’ says Israel’s response to Oct. 7 massacres is ‘not appropriate,’ urges truce followed by ceasefire
PARIS, France — French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that fighting terrorism did not mean “flattening Gaza,” referring to Israel’s response to the unprecedented attack by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
“We cannot let the idea take root that an efficient fight against terrorism implies flattening Gaza or attacking civilian populations indiscriminately,” Macron told the France 5 broadcaster.
He called on Israel “to stop this response because it is not appropriate, because all lives are worth the same and we defend them.”
While acknowledging “Israel’s right to defend itself and fight terror,” Macron said France called for the protection of civilians and “a truce leading to a humanitarian ceasefire.”
The war began when thousands of Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7 in a devastating shock onslaught, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 240 to Gaza, under the cover of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns.
In response, Israel began a military campaign including airstrikes and a ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas, removing it from power in Gaza, and freeing the hostages.
Israel has said it is trying to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties and that its airstrikes target the gunmen and infrastructure of Hamas. It accuses the terror group of using Gazans as human shields and running its war machine from inside and close to hospitals, schools, mosques, and United Nations facilities.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said Wednesday that since the start of the war, more than 20,000 people have been killed. The number cannot be independently verified, however, and the health ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants — some 7,000 of whom are believed to have been killed since the start of the war — and includes civilians killed by the terror group’s rocket misfires.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday reiterated that Israel will not end its campaign until it has achieved its goals.
Earlier this month Macron said that eliminating Hamas could take a decade and therefore the objective needs to be “clarified.” Achieving the “total destruction of Hamas” would mean “the war will last 10 years,” Macron said at a press conference on the sidelines of the UN’s COP28 climate talks in Dubai.
Macron, who was one of the first world leaders to visit Israel in a show of solidarity in the aftermath of October 7, has expressed great concern for civilians in Gaza, telling Netanyahu in a November 20 phone call that there were “too many civilian losses” due to Israel’s offensive.
The phone call came after Macron was criticized by Israel for saying the IDF’s military campaign was “de facto” killing “ladies and babies” in Gaza. Paris has since sought to soften its criticism while still calling for a ceasefire.
France has dispatched a floating hospital, which docked off the coast of El Arish in Egypt’s northern Sinai and will serve Palestinian civilians wounded in the war.
Paris is also playing a key role in the diplomatic dealings to prevent all-out war between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group.
