Tel Aviv [Israel], October 24 (ANI): French President Emmanuel Macron will meet his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Tuesday, The Times of Israel reported the Palestinian Authority leader’s office as saying.
Macron is the latest in a series of Western leaders who made a solidarity visit to Israel after the October 7 attacks by Hamas. However, he would be the first to visit the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank amid the crisis.
The French presidency did not immediately confirm the meeting, according to The Times of Israel.
Upon his arrival in Israel, to express his country’s “full solidarity” with the Jewish state following the October 7 massacres by Palestinian terror group Hamas, he met his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog.
After this the French President reached Tel Aviv, and met with families of French and French-Israeli nationals killed in the Hamas attack 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, as reported by The Times of Israel.
Macron’s visit takes place more than two weeks after Hamas attack on Israel, killing at least 1,400 people, the majority of them were civilians who were shot, mutilated, or burned to death, including in their homes and at an outdoor music festival. Thirty of them were citizens of France, as reported by The Times of Israel.
Additionally, at least 224 people were taken hostages and brought to Gaza.
One of the seven missing French nationals, a French woman, has been positively identified as one of the captives held by Hamas. Although there hasn’t been official confirmation, Macron has claimed that the others are also suspected of being captives.
Macron and Netanyahu are scheduled to give a joint press conference later today.
Israel’s offensive is aimed at destroying Hamas’s infrastructure, and has vowed to eliminate the entire terror group, which rules the Strip, IDF said.
Macron will specifically call for a “humanitarian truce” to allow essential relief into Gaza, whose 2.4 million residents require water, food, electricity, and other basic commodities due to an Israeli-led blockade, the Elysee Palace said.
In addition, the French president aims to keep working “to avoid a dangerous escalation in the region,” the Elysee stated, amid mounting concern about the increasing cross-border fighting between Israel and the terrorist organisation Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is supported by Iran, according to The Times of Israel.
Macron will suggest relaunching a “true peace process,” which aims to establish a viable Palestinian state in exchange for assurances from regional power over Israel’s security.
US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte have already visited Israel since the war began. (ANI)
