“It’s a black page in our own history”: Emmanuel Macron, visiting Israel on Tuesday October 24, expressed with emotion his solidarity after the bloody Hamas attack, and proposed an international “coalition” to “fight” against the Palestinian Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip.

After an interview with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem, the French president presented the “condolences” of a “friendly country, devastated by the most terrible terrorist act in your history and seized by your grief and your pain “. “I bring you today the emotion and solidarity of the French. Our two countries are linked by the same mourning,” he added, in a serious tone, alongside Mr. Netanyahu.

This visit comes on the 18th day of the war between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the attack of the Palestinian movement on Israeli soil on October 7. This unprecedented attack left more than 1,400 dead, the vast majority of them civilians, including thirty French or Franco-Israeli people. Israeli reprisals in Gaza have left more than 5,000 dead, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-administered enclave.

“Regional conflagration”

While France affirms Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international law, Emmanuel Macron proposed that the international coalition created in 2014 under the leadership of the United States to fight the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, in which Paris participates, “can also fight against Hamas”. “I propose to our international partners” that “we can build a regional and international coalition to fight against the terrorist groups that threaten us all,” he explained.

“It is the interest of Israel and its security, as well as that of several of your neighbors threatened by these same groups or neighboring groups. The fight must be merciless, but not without rules, because we are democracies fighting against terrorists, democracies therefore respecting the laws of war and ensuring humanitarian access to the populations of Gaza, he said. added.

Upon his arrival at Tel Aviv airport on Tuesday morning, the Head of State met, during an emotional exchange, with families of French or Franco-Israeli people killed, disappeared or held hostage in the Gaza strip.

He also revised the toll upwards by affirming that nine French or Franco-Israeli people were “detained” – the Elysée specified that they were hostages or missing. Among the families, that of Mia Shem, a Franco-Israeli hostage whose video was released last week by Hamas.

“The first objective that we should have today is the release of all the hostages, without any distinction,” also declared the French president during a tête-à-tête with his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog. There are around 220 hostages held in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli authorities. On Monday, Hamas released two Israeli women aged 79 and 85, citing “humanitarian” reasons, three days after the release of an American woman and her daughter.

The French president also said that it was necessary to “fight these terrorist groups, without confusion and, I would say, without widening the conflict.” Warning against “a regional conflagration from which everyone would lose”, he solemnly and specifically called on “the Iranian regime” and its regional allies, the Lebanese “Hezbollah” and “the Houthis in Yemen”, to “not take the risk reckless to open new fronts”, while the situation is very tense on the border with Lebanon.

“Political process”

Emmanuel Macron also insisted on the need for a “decisive relaunch of the political process with the Palestinians”, which he is due to discuss in the afternoon in Ramallah, in the West Bank, with the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas , and Wednesday with several leaders of the region. He also called “everyone’s attention to the actions of a few against Palestinian civilians whose violence threatens to spread fire to the West Bank as well.”

However, the Elysée has not yet specified its program for Wednesday. On Tuesday, the French presidency said he would “likely have discussions” with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi and Gulf leaders.

“The Palestinian cause must be heard with reason. The stability of the region” will only be guaranteed if the Israeli response “is obviously security and implacable in the face of terrorist groups but also political”, pleaded the French president, believing that it was necessary “to accept the legitimate right of the Palestinians to have access to ‘a territory and a state in peace and security alongside Israel’.

Emmanuel Macron’s visit comes after those of the American President, Joe Biden, and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak. He had said in recent days that he wanted to go to Israel when his visit would be “useful”.

The Palestinian Authority has no longer exercised any power in the Gaza Strip since Hamas ousted it in 2007, after a few days of armed clashes. But Hamas, insisted the head of state, “is a terrorist group”, “this is why it does not support the Palestinian cause” and “must be fought forcefully”.

His entourage said he would advocate for “a humanitarian truce” which “could lead to a ceasefire.” But these words were not spoken by Emmanuel Macron during the joint declaration.