Failing a breakthrough, the initiative at least constituted a first effort at international consultation in an attempt to come to the aid of Palestinian civilians trapped by the war in the Gaza Strip. While the fighting continues to rage in the enclave, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, brought together, on Thursday November 9, at the Elysée, several dozen Arab states, Western and emerging countries, as well as numerous international organizations in order to respond to the multiple humanitarian challenges posed by Israel’s response, a little over a month after the October 7 terrorist attacks on its soil.
At the opening of the debates, the Head of State changed his speech, as if to send a signal to the many guests present keen to demand an immediate ceasefire in order to best protect civilians, while the fighting has has already caused more than 10,800 deaths in the Gaza Strip, according to the administration of the territory under Hamas control. After calling for “a humanitarian pause as quickly as possible”, Emmanuel Macron, for the first time, called for “working towards a ceasefire”. A perspective that Israel continues to reject to this day, to better continue its hunt for Hamas fighters.
The slight shift in the presidential speech did not prevent the various speakers from insisting on the responsibility of the Israeli authorities. “Thousands of people killed is not collateral damage. It seems that it is a collective punishment,” denounced Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), which already has, deplored the Swiss official, 99 deaths among its employees in the territory . “This is about condemning the atrocities committed by Hamas. But this can in no way justify a war which absolutely does not respect international humanitarian law,” said Mr. Lazzarini.
“How many Palestinians will have to be killed? »
According to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Choukri, “the aid that has already entered Gaza [through the Rafah crossing alone, on the Egyptian side] is not sufficient for the needs of the entire population, and the complications “deliberately imposed by Israel on these deliveries lead to a further deterioration of the situation”. “How many Palestinians will have to be killed before the war ends,” asked Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. What Israel is doing is not a war against Hamas, it is a war against the Palestinian people as a whole. »
