Macron tells Netanyahu Gaza operations must ‘stop’, death toll ‘unbearable’

French President Emmanuel Macron told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that the death toll in Gaza was “intolerable” and Israel’s operations there “must stop,” his office said.

Macron’s tone hardened during the call, with the French leader expressing France’s “firm opposition” to Israel’s offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, saying it would “only lead to a new and serious humanitarian catastrophe” and cause A statement from the Presidential Elysee Palace said there were new risks of escalating tensions in the region.

The French leader stressed that a ceasefire should be agreed “without further delay”, adding that such an agreement should “guarantee the protection of all civilians and a significant inflow of emergency assistance”.

Macron’s office said the lack of adequate access to “populations in a state of absolute humanitarian emergency” was unjustified.

“The port of Ashdod in the northern Israeli Gaza Strip must be opened,” he said, “which is a direct land route from Jordan and all crossing points.”

The French president also urged “the prime minister and all Israeli leaders to have the courage to provide a peaceful future for their compatriots,” which he believed could only be achieved by “the establishment of a Palestinian state,” the statement said.

France said on Tuesday it was imposing sanctions on 28 “extremist Israeli settlers”, accusing them of violating the human rights of Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank.

The French foreign ministry said France would also seek sanctions at the European level.

According to AFP statistics based on official Israeli data, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on October 7, resulting in the death of approximately 1,160 people in Israel, most of them civilians, and the latest Gaza war broke out.

According to Israeli data, militants have also taken about 250 people hostage, about 130 of whom are still in Gaza. Israel said the remaining 29 prisoners were presumed dead.

Israel’s relentless bombing and ground offensive in Gaza has killed at least 28,576 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – AFP)