October 7: Paris shows its support for Israel, judges that “the time for diplomacy” has come

Paris believes that “force alone cannot suffice” to guarantee the security of Israel, to which France “is unwaveringly attached” declared on Monday the French Minister of Foreign Affairs & ;in Jerusalem, on the first anniversary of the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel.

“Force alone is not enough to guarantee Israel's security,” Jean-Noël Barrot said at a press conference.

“To finally bring the hostages back to their loved ones, to finally allow the displaced people of the North to return to their homes, after a year of war, the time for diplomacy has come,” he added, while the war that Israel is waging in the Gaza Strip against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is spreading to Lebanon against Hezbollah.

On this point, Mr. Barrot, who was speaking after meeting his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz, considered that Hezbollah bore a “heavy responsibility” for the situation in Lebanon, where the Israeli army is continuing its bombings and launched a ground offensive against the Lebanese Islamist movement a week ago.

“In Lebanon, violence threatens to plunge a very fragile country into lasting chaos, threatening Israel's security even more than today,” said Jean-Noël Barrot. “Hezbollah bears a heavy responsibility for this situation, having dragged Lebanon into a war it did not choose,” he added.

“This sad anniversary of October 7 is an opportunity to remind ourselves: France is unwaveringly committed to Israel's security,” said Mr. Barrot, “it always has been, it always will be, these are not just words.”

– “France loves you” –

M. Barrot stressed that France had “mobilized its military resources, in April as in October, to help Israel ward off the unacceptable ballistic attacks” from Iran, of which Hamas and Hezbollah are the main allies in the region.

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In the morning, Mr. Barrot participated in a tribute ceremony in Reim (southern Israel) on the site of the Nova music festival, where more than 370 people were killed by commandos from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas exactly one year ago.

“France mourns alongside Israel, our compatriots” killed in the attack of October 7, 2023, assured the minister.

“France will never abandon its compatriots, France will never stop demanding that Hamas unconditionally release all hostages,” added Mr. Barrot, while two Franco-Israelis kidnapped on October 7 in southern Israel remain detained in Gaza.

“To our few 180,000 compatriots of Israel, I say it strongly, France loves you, the Republic will always be at your side,” he added.

Mr Barrot's visit comes amid controversy between France and Israel after French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out in favour of halting arms deliveries to Israel that could be used in the war in Gaza.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians killed on 7 October, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures including hostages who died or were killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

– 48 French nationals killed –

Of the 251 people taken hostage on 7 October, 97 are still being held in the Gaza Strip, 34 of whom have been declared dead by the army Israeli.

The military reprisals on the Gaza Strip have left at least 41,825 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas government's Ministry of Health for Gaza, deemed reliable by the UN.

In Reims, Mr. Barrot laid a wreath in memory of the lives taken in the October 7 attack, and 48 white roses in memory of the 48 French victims.

Wearing a yellow ribbon on his lapel, a sign of solidarity with the hostages held in Gaza, Mr. Barrot went to meet the victims' families.

“I can't even imagine the pain you are experiencing […] good luck […] we are at your side,” Mr. Barrot said. to several of his interlocutors.

Mr. Barrot also met in the afternoon with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967. The two men did not make a statement to the press.

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