Gaza: France will ‘refuse’ any forced population transfer to Egypt, says Sejournet

France confirms its position. The head of French diplomacy, Stephane Séjournet, said in Cairo on Sunday that he would “refuse” any “forced transfer” towards Egypt of Gazans fleeing the bombing of the war between Israel and Hamas and now crowding at the gates of Sinai.

On the first leg of his Middle East tour, Stephane Sejournet told his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry: “You are concerned about the forced displacement of populations on your territory. We fully understand these concerns and (…) France’s position remains unchanged: we condemn and will reject any action taken in this direction.”

After capturing the city of Gaza, located in the north of the small Palestinian territory, and then the city of Khan Younes, located to the south, the Israeli army now threatens Rafah, the very last Palestinian city before the Egyptian border, where more than 1.3 million people are displaced, according to the UN. Egypt has been warning since October against the “forced relocation” of Gazans to the Sinai Desert, fearing that more Palestinian refugees will emerge, as happened in 1948 with the creation of Israel, who will not be able to benefit from the “right of return.”

“Opening a Political Perspective”

While talks on a possible truce through Qatari and Egyptian mediators intensify, Paris wants “a ceasefire but also to prepare for the return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip with renewed governance,” he added. Since 2007, Palestinians have lived under two competing governments: the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority government of Mahmoud Abbas, which controls parts of the occupied West Bank.

Answering a question about the possibility of recognition of the State of Palestine, Stéphane Sejournet assessed that this step would mean “the completion of the political process.” “That is the logic (…) The whole question is to know when, at what point and under what conditions,” he said again, calling for the creation of two Palestinian and Israeli states within the 1967 borders, with “the Gaza Strip connected to the future.” Palestinian state. At the end of January, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron called for “considering (…) the issue of recognition of a Palestinian state, including at the UN.”

On his first tour of the region, Stéphane Sejournet will then travel to Jordan, Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Lebanon to “work for a ceasefire and the release of hostages” and “persuade us to reopen a forward-looking policy” based on a two-state solution. according to his ministry.

The war between Israel and Hamas was sparked by an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil that killed more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, that day, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israeli figures.

Since then, 27,365 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women, children and teenagers, have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli bombing and military operations, according to the latest report released Sunday by the Hamas health ministry.