Minister Jean-Noël Barrot believes that “such an operation would aggravate an already catastrophic situation without allowing the release of the hostages of Hamas, his disarmament and his surrender”.
France “firmly condemns” the plan of the Israeli government “aimed at preparing the full occupation of Gaza,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on X on Friday, August 8.
“Such an operation would aggravate an already catastrophic situation without allowing the release of the hostages of Hamas, its disarmament and its surrender,” he continues.
The Israeli army was preparing this Friday, August 8, under international criticism, to take control of the city of Gaza, the largest in the Palestinian territory, in order to “defeat” Hamas and ensure the release of hostages.
After 22 months of war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces very strong pressure in Israel and abroad to end his offensive in the Gaza Strip, where more than two million Palestinians are threatened with a “widespread famine”, according to the UN.
“We are going to free Gaza from Hamas”
According to the plan validated by the Israeli security firm, the army “is preparing to take control of the city of Gaza”, an agglomeration largely destroyed in the north of the territory, “while distributing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat areas”.
In addition to the disarmament of Hamas and the return “of all the hostages, alive and dead”, the plan aims to demilitize the Gaza Strip and place it under Israeli control before the establishment “of a civil administration” which is “neither Hamas nor the Palestinian authority”, said the office of Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.
“We are not going to occupy Gaza, we are going to free Gaza from Hamas”, who has run the territory since 2007, said Benjamin Netanyahu on X.
From Germany, however, one of the most faithful allies of Israel, to the EU, via France, China and many Muslim countries, the announcement of this plan aroused international reprobation. The UN Security Council will meet on Saturday in an emergency.
