French FM to visit Israel in call for Gaza ceasefire, ‘respect for international humanitarian law’

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot will travel to Israel and the West Bank tomorrow to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and “respect for international humanitarian law,” he tells France 2 TV.

“France’s role is to deliver messages and that is why I will go to Israel and the Palestinian territories tomorrow evening to meet with the authorities and humanitarian officials, to carry the voice of France within this region where the war has already lasted far too long,” Barrot says.

He will also call for “violations of international humanitarian law” to stop, according to AFP.

The visit comes after the Knesset passed a law curtailing the activities of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Relations between France and Israel have been strained in recent weeks. French President Emmanuel Macron banned Israeli firms from exhibiting at a major naval arms show, a decision — later overturned in court — that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called “a disgrace.”

Last month, Macron and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traded barbs over the circumstances of Israel’s founding. Macron and Barrot are also calling for an arms embargo to Israel.