Paris “condemned” on Saturday an Israeli bombing in the Gaza Strip which caused the death of an agent of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and demanded that “all light be shed” on this tragedy “as quickly as possible”. “It is with great emotion that the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs learned of the death of one of its agents, who died as a result of his injuries during an Israeli bombing in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip,” the Quai d’Orsay said in a statement.
Circumstances to be clarified
“We demand that all light be shed by the Israeli authorities on the circumstances of this bombing, as quickly as possible,” requests the press release from the French ministry. The agent who had worked for France since 2022, and whose identity and nationality were not specified, had found refuge in the house of one of his colleagues at the French consulate general, alongside two other colleagues and members of their family.
“Total solidarity with the bereaved agents of the Quai d’Orsay. It is high time to bang our fists on the table against Netanyahu”, reacted on X (former Twitter) the LFI deputy for Essonne Antoine Léaument. “What will it take for the world to stop supporting Israel in its murderous madness? Right to respond to Hamas, yes! But that, no!”, commented for her part on the same social network the MP for Drôme and Vice -president of the Foreign Affairs Committee Mireille Clapot.
Part of his family was able to leave Gaza
The house where the agent took refuge was hit by an Israeli bombardment on Wednesday evening, causing around ten victims. Part of his family was able to leave Gaza for France, as part of the evacuation system put in place by France which included French people present in the Gaza Strip, agents of the French Institute and their beneficiaries. .
Israel launched an air and then land offensive in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the unprecedented attack on October 7 on Israeli soil carried out by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. According to Israel, 1,139 people, mostly civilians, were killed in this attack and around 250 kidnapped and taken to Gaza. About 129 hostages remain in Gaza, including bodies, according to the army. Hamas reported on Friday 18,800 deaths in Israeli bombings, mostly women, children and adolescents.