French President, Emmanuel Macron, arrived in Israel on Tuesday to express his country’s “full solidarity” with the Jewish state after the deadly October 7 massacres by Palestinian terror group, Hamas.
Macron headed to Tel Aviv, where he met with families of French and French-Israeli nationals killed in the Hamas onslaught or being held hostage by terrorists in Gaza.
He was later due to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express France’s “full solidarity” with Israel, the French presidency said.
His visit comes more than two weeks after thousands of Palestinian terrorists stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death, including in their homes and at an outdoor music festival. Among them were 30 French citizens.
At least 224 people were also taken into Gaza as captives.
He was also expected to call for the “preservation of the civilian population” in Gaza, amid Israel’s relentless bombardment, and as it prepares for a ground invasion of the overcrowded Palestinian enclave, according to AFP.
Macron and Netanyahu were due to hold a joint press conference at 1pm Israel time.
The French head of state was also due to meet in Jerusalem with President Isaac Herzog, as well as with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and now-minister Benny Gantz, whose opposition National Unity party joined the coalition to form an emergency war cabinet.
Macron was also expected to travel to the West Bank to meet Palestinian Authorities President, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah. There will also probably be exchanges with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and leaders of Gulf nations, the Elysee said.
He was expected to call for the “preservation of the civilian population” in Gaza, amid Israel’s heavy bombardment of Hamas targets, and as it prepares for a ground operation inside the Strip with the aim of vanquishing the terror group.
More than 5000 people, most of them women and children, have died during Israel’s attacks, according to numbers given by the Hamas-run health ministry.
Macron will in particular call for a “humanitarian truce” to allow desperately needed aid into Gaza, whose 2.4 million people have been largely deprived of water, food, electricity and other basic supplies after an Israeli blockade, the Elysee Palace said.
US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have already visited Israel.