Hamas War – Israel: Emmanuel Macron in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to meet Benjamin Netanyahu

2023-10-23 04:44:45

The list of leaders who came to support Israel following the tragedy of October 7 will continue to grow. Emmanuel Macron will indeed go to Tel Aviv on Tuesday to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to information communicated on Sunday by the Elysée, the head of state will leave Israel on Wednesday.

The head of the Israeli government had announced shortly before on X the next visit of Emmanuel Macron and the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Seven French people still missing

The visit of the French president comes more than two weeks after the deadly attacks by Palestinian Hamas on Israeli territory, which left more than 1,400 dead, including 30 French nationals. In addition, seven French people are still missing: a young woman has hostage status and “for the other six there is a presumption of hostage-taking but without certainty”, indicated Emmanuel Macron.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 4,651 Palestinians, the majority civilians including more than 1,500 children, were killed in incessant Israeli retaliatory bombings which destroyed entire neighborhoods, according to figures Sunday from the Hamas Health Ministry.

American President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have already visited Israel, as has Italian head of government Giorgia Meloni on Saturday.

Macron defends a “targeted” Israeli response

Emmanuel Macron for his part repeated on Friday that he would go to the Middle East if he managed to “obtain useful elements” for the region thanks to this trip. He then cited, among these elements, the “security of Israel”, the “fight against terrorist groups”, the non-escalation of the conflict and the resumption of a “political process” towards a two-state solution, Israeli and Palestinian.

The French president also expressed unfailing support for the Israelis, their “right to defend themselves”, but also called for a “targeted” Israeli response against Hamas in Gaza in order to “spare” Palestinian civilians.

Faced with the risk of a regional conflagration, Joe Biden also discussed the war between Hamas and Israel on Sunday by telephone with Emmanuel Macron, the Canadian Justin Trudeau, Olaf Scholz, Giorgia Meloni and Rishi Sunak.