Gaza Aid Shifts Allies’ Compass… France Criticizes Israel and Warns
France has “turned against” Israel and shifted towards its ally, holding it “responsible” for blocking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The French Foreign Minister criticized Israeli authorities in an interview with the French newspaper “Le Monde” on Saturday, accusing them of being responsible for preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the territory.
Stéphane Séjourné stated, “It is clear that the responsibility for preventing aid (to Gaza) lies with Israel,” noting that the catastrophic humanitarian situation “leads to indefensible and unjustifiable conditions for which Israelis must bear responsibility.”
France has intensified its efforts with Israeli authorities to open additional crossings and allow trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to enter.
However, this has not materialized, and “famine compounds the horror,” according to Séjourné, who visited the region a month ago.
The statements by the French Foreign Minister come after the tragedy on Thursday, when Israeli gunfire and overcrowding led to 115 deaths, according to Hamas, during the distribution of humanitarian aid in the territory.
Séjourné called on Friday, on France Inter, for an independent investigation to probe what happened.
“A Deadlock”
On Saturday, the French Minister suggested that there was “a deadlock concerning Rafah” in the south of the territory, where approximately one and a half million Palestinians, according to the United Nations, are crowded along the closed border with Egypt.
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an imminent ground assault on Rafah to defeat the movement in its “last stronghold.”
The French Foreign Minister reiterated that this would be “a new humanitarian catastrophe, and we are doing our best to avoid it,” reminding that France has been calling for a permanent ceasefire for months.
Similarly, Séjourné pointed out that “recognition of the Palestinian state is an element of the peace process that must be used at the right time.”
