Netanyahu slams Macron for fueling ‘antisemitic fire': Letter
'Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas' refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace French Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets,' Netanyahu wrote in the letter.
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Asharq Al-Awsat
40 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israel-France Row Flares Over Macron's Move to Recognize Palestinian State
A row between Israel and France over Paris's plan to recognize a Palestinian state next month escalated to crisis level on Tuesday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused President Emmanuel Macron of fomenting "antisemitism". The Elysee hit back, calling Netanyahu's allegation "abject" and "erroneous". "This is a time for seriousness and responsibility, not for conflation and manipulation," the French presidency added. Netanyahu's accusation was sent in a letter addressed to Macron, seen by AFP, which said that antisemitism had "surged" in France following the French president's announcement last month that he will recognize Palestinian statehood. Macron said France would formally recognize a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September -- a move that at the time drew a swift rebuke from Israel. In his letter, Netanyahu said to Macron: "Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas's refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace French Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets." By announcing the move to recognize statehood for Palestinians, France is set to join a list of nations that has grown since the start of the Gaza war nearly two years ago. France is among at least 145 of the 193 UN members that now recognize or plan to recognize a Palestinian state, according to an AFP tally. France has long advocated for the two-state solution. It has said its move to recognize a Palestinian state goes against Hamas, which rules Gaza and has excluded a two-state solution. In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry condemned Netanyahu's remarks, calling them "unjustified and hostile to peace". "The old record of confusing criticism of the Israeli occupation and its crimes or support for the Palestinian people's rights to freedom and independence with antisemitism... has become cracked and exposed, and no one is fooled," the ministry said. - Anti-Jewish violence 'intolerable' - In its response to Netanyahu's antisemitism allegation, the French presidency said that France "protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens". "Violence against the (French) Jewish community is intolerable," it added. "That is why, beyond criminal convictions, the president has systematically required all his governments since 2017 -- and even more so since the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023 -- to show the strongest action against perpetrators of antisemitic acts," it said. Macron's office added that the allegation in Netanyahu's letter "will not go unanswered". Macron's minister for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, separately said that France has "no lessons to learn in the fight against antisemitism". The issue "which is poisoning our European societies" must not be "exploited", Haddad added. France is home to Europe's biggest Jewish community. Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before dipping to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry. Netanyahu on Tuesday also criticized Australia, which has similarly said it plans to recognize Palestinian statehood next month. The Israeli leader, on his office's official X account, called his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, a "weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews". The personal attack came amid a diplomatic spat between the two countries after the Australian government on Monday cancelled the visa of far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman. Hours later, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he had revoked the visas of Australia's representatives to the Palestinian Authority.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Jordan FM says Israel ‘killing all prospects' for regional peace
MOSCOW: Jordan's foreign minister said Wednesday that Israel's assault on Gaza had caused 'massacres and starvation' and that its wider actions were 'killing all prospects' for peace in the Middle East. His comments came after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz approved a plan to conquer Gaza City, an urban area home to hundreds of thousands of people in the north of the Palestinian territory. Most of the territory's population has been displaced since the war began, many repeatedly, according to the United Nations. Addressing Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at a meeting in Moscow, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said he hoped to discuss 'efforts to end the aggression on Gaza, and the massacres and starvation that it is creating.' This was in addition to the 'illegal measures that continue to undermine the two-state solution and kill all prospects for peace in the region,' he added. 'We value your clear position against the war and your demand for reaching a permanent ceasefire,' he told Lavrov. Israel denies its military targets civilians and says that there is no 'policy of starvation' in Gaza. The Israeli government's plans to expand the war have triggered a wave of international condemnation as well as domestic protests. Israel's offensive has killed at least 62,064 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable.
Saudi Gazette
2 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Israel calls up 60,000 reservists ahead of planned Gaza City offensive
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it is calling up about 60,000 reservists ahead of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City. A military official said the reservists would report for duty in September and that most of the troops mobilised for the offensive would be active-duty personnel. They added that troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas as part of the preparations for the plan, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and will be put to the security cabinet later this week. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza. Many of Israel's allies have condemned the plan, while the UN and non-governmental organisations have warned that another offensive and further mass displacement will have a "horrific humanitarian impact" after 22 months of war. Israel's government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last month. Regional mediators are trying to secure an agreement before the offensive begins and have presented a new proposal for a 60-day truce and the release of around half of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza, which Hamas said it had accepted on Monday. Israel has not yet submitted a formal response, but Israeli officials insisted on Tuesday that they would no longer accept a partial deal and demanded a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages released. Only 20 of the hostages are believed to be alive. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that orders calling up 60,000 reservists were issued on Wednesday as part of the preparations for "the next phase of Operation Gideon's Chariots" - the offensive that it launched in May. In addition, 20,000 reservists who had already been called up would receive a notice extending their current orders, it added. The Israeli military official said senior commanders had approved the plan for a "gradual" and "precise" operation in and around Gaza City, and that the chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, was expected to finalise them in the coming days. Five divisions are expected to take part in the offensive, according to the official. The Haaretz newspaper quoted Defence Minister Katz as saying on Tuesday: "Once the operation is completed, Gaza will change its face and will no longer look as it did in the past." He also reportedly approved a plan to "accommodate" Gaza City residents in the south of the territory, including the coastal al-Mawasi area, where the military has begun establishing additional food distribution points and field hospitals. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military's objectives are to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and "complete the defeat" of the Palestinian armed group. The IDF also announced on Wednesday that the Givati Brigade had resumed operations in the northern town of Jabalia and on the outskirts of Gaza City, where it said they were "are dismantling military infrastructures above and below ground, eliminating terrorists, and consolidating operational control". It said civilians were being told to move south for their safety "to mitigate the risk of harm". A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the city's Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods, where he said "shelling continues intermittently". The agency said Israeli strikes and fire had killed 21 people across Gaza on Wednesday. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that three children and their parents were killed when a house in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, was bombed. UN agencies and NGOs have warned of the humanitarian impact of a new offensive. "The Israeli plan to intensify military operations in Gaza City will have a horrific humanitarian impact on people already exhausted, malnourished, bereaved, displaced, and deprived of basics needed for survival," they said in a joint statement on Monday. "Forcing hundreds of thousands to move south is a recipe for further disaster and could amount to forcible transfer." They also said the areas of the south where displaced residents were expected to move were "overcrowded and ill-equipped to sustain human survival at scale". "Southern hospitals are operating at several times their capacity, and taking on patients from the north would have life-threatening consequences." The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and UN-backed global food security experts have warned that the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" due to food shortages. - BBC
