Macron speaks on planned ground offensive in Gaza

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Egypt, the final leg of his Middle East tour following visits to Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

GROUND OFFENSIVE DISCUSSED

El-Sisi called for action to prevent Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, stating that he and Macron discussed the "large number of civilian casualties" such an operation would cause. El-Sisi emphasized that more than 6,000 civilians have been killed in Gaza as a result of two weeks of Israeli attacks, and that "half of them are children."


In his statement, Macron reiterated his call to prevent regional escalation following the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and rejected accusations of double standards directed at him and other Western countries.

Macron emphasized that France "does not apply double standards" and that "international law applies to everyone." Macron stated, "All lives are equal, all victims deserve our compassion and our lasting commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East."

Stating that refueling hospitals in the Gaza Strip is essential, Macron said that a French Air Force plane carrying aid supplies would arrive in Egypt tomorrow, and that a French Navy ship carrying significant supplies would depart from the French military port of Toulon in the Mediterranean for Egypt within 48 hours.

Reiterating his call for the resumption of peace talks aimed at achieving a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, Macron said, "Just because an idea is old does not mean it has lost its validity."

CALL FOR PEACE PROCESS

In a statement to reporters at the airport before leaving Egypt, Macron called for a three-pronged approach to end the conflict between Israel and Palestine, emphasizing that "a security intervention must be accompanied by a humanitarian intervention and a political response" aimed at restarting the peace process in the Middle East. Responding to a question about whether he would support an Israeli ground offensive into the Gaza Strip, Macron said it would depend on the "scope of the operation."

"I THINK IT WOULD BE A MISTAKE"

Macron stated, "If it is a massive intervention that puts civilian lives at risk, then I think it would be a mistake," adding that such an operation "would not even comply with international humanitarian law and the rules of war."