“We share (Israel’s) pain. And we share their desire to get rid of terrorism.” But “de facto, today, civilians are being bombed. These babies, these women, these elderly people are being bombed and killed.” There is “no justification” and “no legitimacy for this. We therefore urge Israel to stop,” he stressed.
The Hamas Health Ministry announced that 11,078 people, including 4,506 children, had been killed in Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war triggered by the bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement against the Jewish state. , October 7.
“Not a judge”, but “a head of state”
This “reaction in the fight against terrorism, because it is led by a democracy, must be consistent with the international rules of war and international humanitarian law,” said the French president.
Asked about a possible violation of international law by Israel, Emmanuel Macron stressed that he was “not a judge”, but “a head of state”. He also expressed concern that the “massive bombing” of Gaza would create “resentment” in the region.
“Fight against terrorism”
This interview comes the day after a “humanitarian conference” organized Thursday in Paris at the initiative of the French president during which he called for “working toward a ceasefire.” “There is no other solution than a humanitarian pause first” to move towards a “ceasefire, which will protect all civilians who have nothing to do with the terrorists,” he insisted on Friday.
“It is impossible to explain that we want to fight against terrorism by killing innocent people,” the French president further underlined. On the Israeli side, 1,200 people, according to a new official toll revised downwards on Friday, have died since the start of the war, the majority civilians killed on the day of the attack by Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.