After the United Kingdom and Spain, France has just led a first operation to drop in food in the Gaza Strip, while the enclave, completely dependent on humanitarian aid, is threatened with a “generalized famine” according to the UN.
President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the distribution in a message published on X, with a video of the operation. He praised the “Jordanian, Emirian and German partners for their support”, as well as the “soldiers for their commitment”.
France had announced at the beginning of the week the release of 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid on the Gaza Strip by the voice of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot. Four flights are planned, carrying ten tonnes of living each.
Insufficient
Emmanuel Macron, however, recognized that these drops, authorized since Sunday by Israel, “are not enough”. “Israel must open up full humanitarian access to respond to the risk of famine,” he said.
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Tuesday, Jean-Noël Barrot recalled that “52 tonnes of French humanitarian freight” were still blocked in Egypt, a few kilometers from the Palestinian enclave. “It is therefore essential that the Israeli authorities finally agree to reopen land access to the Gaza Strip in a sufficiently significant way to alleviate the atrocious suffering of civilian populations on the spot,” he said from New York where he participated in a UN ministerial conference on a two-state solution.