Madam President,
I would like to thank the general subsecretaire for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Khaled Khiari for his presentation, and his elements on the implementation of resolution 2334.
Once again our council notes the worsening of the situation and France wants to repeat here the three immediate priorities.
1/ First of all, the regional climbing of recent weeks should not make us lose sight of the urgency of reaching an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
The President of the Republic reiterated it recently: there is no military solution in Gaza and the war must stop. France salutes the mediation efforts of Qatar, the United States, Egypt in this sense. The hostages held by Hamas since the barbarian terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, which France will continue to condemn with the greatest firmness, must all be released without condition, without more deadlines and in dignity.
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic. We condemn the blocking of humanitarian aid by Israel. The mechanism implemented by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is not able to meet the needs of the population in compliance with international law and the humanitarian principles on which it is not possible to compromise. In addition, the dramas that surrounded the distribution of aid by the foundation demonstrated, if necessary, the radical inadequacy of this mechanism. Humanitarian aid cannot be instrumentalized for political purposes and must be sent safely and without obstacles to the entire Gaza Strip. France reiterates its full support for the United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners, who have proven their probity and their ability to transport aid in full respect for humanitarian principles.
2/ Second, in parallel, the acceleration of colonization in the West Bank, underlined by Mr. Khaled Khiari in his report, constitutes an obstacle to peace efforts in the Middle East.
France renews its condemnation of colonization as well as its firm opposition to any form of annexation. This policy, contrary to international law and resolution 2334 of this council, compromises the possibility of establishing a viable and contiguous Palestinian state. As the International Court of Justice recalled in its advisory opinion of July 19, 2024, Israel must cease any new colonization activity, without delay.
Colonization policy is also a factor of tensions on the ground. The attacks of Israeli settlers in the West Bank against the Palestinian population are multiplying. At least four Palestinians have been killed in recent days in these attacks. France calls on the Israeli government to act in a determined way to put an end to the violence perpetrated by these settlers. France adopted 59 individual sanctions against extremist settlers having been guilty of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
Madam President,
3/ It will be my third point, we are actively pursuing with Saudi Arabia the revival of a dynamic of just and lasting political settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
We must build an alternative to war. All our efforts must be guided by the objective of materializing the two -state solution, the only one able to respond to the legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians to peace and security.
The International Conference for the implementation of the two-state solution, which France co-led to Saudi Arabia, in accordance with the mandate of the General Assembly, was suspended for logistical and security reasons. It nevertheless started a new dynamic in favor of a political solution based on the recognition of Palestine, on Israeli-Palestinian normalization, on regional integration, on the disarmament of Hamas, on the renovation of Palestinian governance.
Madam President,
We are actively working that this conference makes it possible to move forward in the path of peace and security for all in the region, thanks to the mobilization of all the member states and the concrete commitments they will take to implement the solution to two states.
Thank you.
