Gaza: Macron reminds Netanyahu of ‘absolute urgency’ to deliver humanitarian aid

This was their first telephone exchange in almost a month. Emmanuel Macron reminded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this Monday of the “absolute urgency” of delivering “massive” humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the Elysee Palace said this afternoon.

During the exchange, his first with an Israeli leader since March 24, the president spoke of the “absolute need to guarantee a massive flow of humanitarian aid through all access points into the Gaza Strip,” the palace said.

“Avoid the fire”

After six and a half months of bombing and fighting in the besieged Palestinian territory, the population is facing a serious humanitarian crisis. Under pressure from its allies, Israel took steps in early April to step up aid delivery. The Jewish state, in particular, allowed its “temporary” entry through the port of Ashdod, about 40 km north of the Gaza Strip, and through the Erez crossing between Palestinian territory and southern Israel.

But Israel’s prime minister has not given up his desire to launch a ground offensive on Rafah, in the south of what he considers Hamas’s last major bastion. Humanitarian groups and many foreign capitals oppose the operation, fearing a bloodbath in the Egyptian border city, where 1.5 million Gazans are massed, either residents or displaced. Thus, this Monday, Emmanuel Macron “once again stated his strong opposition to the Israeli offensive on Rafah, which will only worsen the already catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip and increase the risks of escalation.”

The French president also “stressed the need to avoid a fire in the region” after Iran’s “unacceptable” attack on Israel on the night of April 13-14. “He indicated that France is ready to work with its partners to avoid this conflict and noted our determination to strengthen measures to combat Iran’s destabilizing actions,” the Elysee Palace also said, while Emmanuel Macron said last week that he “supports” expansion of sanctions against Tehran.