Israel must stop killing babies and women in Gaza, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an exclusive interview with the BBC.
From the Elysee Palace in Paris, Macron said there was no “no justification” for the bombings in the Palestinian territory, in addition to ensuring that a ceasefire would benefit Israel.
While recognizing Israel’s right to protect itself, he said: “We urge you to stop the bombing” in Gaza.
Macron also stressed that France “clearly condemns” the “terrorist” actions of Hamas.
France – like Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom and other Western nations – considers Hamas a terrorist organization.
Asked whether he wanted other leaders – including those of the United States and the United Kingdom – to join his call for a ceasefire, he replied: “I hope they do.”
The French president spoke a day after a humanitarian aid conference in Paris about the war in Gaza.
He said that the “clear conclusion” of all the governments and agencies present at that summit was that “there is no other solution than first a humanitarian pause, moving towards a ceasefire, which will allow us to protect all the civilians who have nothing to to do with the terrorists.”
“De facto, today civilians are bombed, de facto. These babies, these women and these old people are bombed and killed. There is no reason or legitimacy for it. So we urge Israel to stop.”
He stated that it was not his place to judge whether international law had been violated.
“There is no justification”
In a wide-ranging interview at the end of the first day of the annual Paris Peace Forum, the French president addressed several issues including fears of violence spreading from the Middle East to France, urging citizens of all religions to be “ united against anti-Semitism.”
Speaking about the situation in Gaza, Macron said that France “clearly condemns” the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, which triggered the war.
Hamas militiamen They killed more than 1,200 people and took another 240 hostage. in the unprecedented cross-border assault they launched that day.
“We share the pain [de Israel]. And we share your desire to end terrorism. “In France we know what terrorism means.” But he stated that there is “no justification” for the ongoing bombing of civilians in Gaza.
“It is extremely important for all of us because of our principles, because we are democracies. “It is important in the medium and long term, as well as for Israel’s own security, to recognize that all lives matter.”
When questioned, he refused to claim that Israel had broken international law in Gaza. “I am not a judge. “I am a head of state,” he said, pointing out that it would not be correct to criticize Israel like this, which is “a partner and a friend” of Francejust a month after it was attacked.
However, Macron disagreed that the best way for Israel “to protect itself is with a big bombing of Gaza,” saying this was creating “resentment and bad feelings” in the region that would prolong the conflict.
After a month of bombings and almost two weeks since Israel launched a major ground offensive in that territory, the Gaza Health Ministry, led by Hamas, declared this Friday that 11,078 people had diedwhile 1.5 million had fled their homes.
Israel has declared it will begin daily four-hour military pauses in parts of northern Gaza as it continues its offensive. However, his defense minister stressed that the pauses would be “localized” and “they would not divert attention from the fighting.”
Ahead of a march against anti-Semitism on Sunday that will be attended by a large part of the French political class, President Macron called on all French citizens to condemn anti-Semitic acts “without ambiguity”.
He said that France had probably the largest Muslim community in Europe and a large Jewish community as well, and with France and the rest of Europe seeing a huge rise in anti-Semitism, all French citizens had to be united against anti-Semitism, and had to “share the pain or compassion of the Palestinians.”
The situation in Ukraine
Macron then addressed other issues of global interest, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In your opinion, If Russia is allowed to win the war, “there will be a new imperial power” in Europewhich could threaten other former Soviet states such as Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as the entire continent.
“Because, definitely, what Russia is doing [en Ucrania] “It is imperialism and colonialism,” he stated.
The French president affirmed that it was the “duty” of his country and of all countries to support Ukraine in its defense. But he also said that next month he would be critical in the battle to regain lost ground in its counteroffensive operations.
I affirm that ““The time had not yet come for Ukraine to sit down at the negotiating table.” and stressed that the decision to reach an agreement corresponded exclusively to Kyiv. But he added that the time may come to “have fair and positive negotiations, and sit down at the table and find a solution with Russia.”
Extremism on the internet
Macron also spoke about internet extremism, a key topic at the Paris Peace Forum.
He specifically pointed to Meta, matrix of Facebookas well as Googlesuch as companies that “simply fail to deliver” on promises they made to moderate hate speech on their platforms.
He stated that many online spaces They lack enough moderators for French content, which he described as “shame.” He promised to “pressure” them on the matter, although he said TikTok had improved the number of moderators for its French-language content.
And he claimed that climate change was causing terrorism in some parts of the world, specifically mentioning the effects of global warming on declining water levels in Lake Chad in West Africa.
“As a consequence of the climate changemany families who lived from fishing [sufrieron]…Many species disappeared. And motivated policies [que] “They pushed many people into terrorism.”
When asked if he ever felt overwhelmed by the many problems facing the world, Macron said he saw it as “an opportunity and an honor to have responsibilities.” [como jefe de Estado]”.
“We need international cooperation [para abordar los problemas mundiales]… This is a unique opportunity.”
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