2024-02-04 14:19:45
They move to give more impact to their request. A delegation of French elected officials, mainly from the left, called on Saturday for an end to the fighting in Gaza, on the eve of going to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian territory.
Early morning departure of the delegation of French parliamentarians. Direction due East towards the Suez Canal then Rafah to carry the demand for the Ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/YT5defIGSC
— Eric Coquerel (@ericcoquerel) February 4, 2024
“We demand a permanent and immediate lasting ceasefire,” declared LFI deputy Éric Coquerel during a press conference in Cairo, where the fifteen elected officials are stopping off before reaching the Rafah border post this Sunday. It brings together LFI deputies and senators, environmentalists, communists and overseas. “We came in a spirit of friendship for all the people of the region,” continued the elected official, who has been working on this trip since December.
Rafah, “next objective” of the Israeli army
He highlighted the “context” of their trip, a week after the International Court of Justice called on Israel to “take all measures in its power to prevent” acts that could fall under the United Nations Genocide Convention. He also cited the “massive bombings in Rafah”, and deplored the situation in the West Bank where “a humanitarian health catastrophe is underway”.
“We were all horrified by the hostage-taking (…) and we share the wait and the anguish of the families who remain without news” since the October 7 attack carried out by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, also declared Soumya Bourouaha (PCF). But “these massacres cannot justify this collective punishment inflicted on the Palestinian people”.
The delegation “kept meeting UNRWA agents to give them our support,” according to Éric Coquerel. Funding for this UN agency for Palestinian refugees has been under threat since Israel accused 12 of its 30,000 regional employees of being involved in the October 7 attack.
The war caused an exodus of the population towards the south. More than 1.3 million residents are refugees in Rafah, according to the UN. The Israeli Defense Minister assured that the city was the next objective. It has already been targeted by intense aerial bombardments this weekend, according to an AFP journalist.
#Gaza #delegation #leftwing #French #elected #officials #route #Rafah #calls #ceasefire