France sending 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza, foreign minister says
"This is emergency aid but still not sufficient" in the face of this "revolting" situation, Barrot told broadcaster franceinfo.
A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario was unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with malnutrition soaring, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access severely restricted.
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Gulf Today
2 hours ago
- Gulf Today
UK-France migrant returns deal to take effect
A "one-in, one-out" deal in which Britain can return some migrants who cross the Channel in small boats back to France comes into force on Wednesday, the UK government has announced. The interior ministry said British authorities were "operationally ready" and that migrant detentions were expected to begin "within days" following the ratification of the agreement. "Today we send a clear message — if you come here illegally on a small boat you will face being sent back to France," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement after striking the deal with French President Emmanuel Macron last month. The agreement seeks to curb record levels of irregular Channel crossings, which are causing discontent in Britain and helping fuel the rise of the hard-right Reform UK party. Under the arrangement — for now a pilot scheme set to run until June 2026 — irregular migrants arriving on UK shores could be detained and then returned to France if they are deemed ineligible for asylum. In exchange, the UK will accept an equal number of migrants from France who can apply for a visa to enter the UK via an online platform, giving priority to nationalities most vulnerable to smugglers and people with ties in Britain. The text of the treaty published and laid in front of parliament on Tuesday stipulates that Britain will submit a request for transferring a person back to France within 14 days of their arrival in Britain. The whole process of returning someone could take three months and the UK will cover all the costs. Unaccompanied minors will not be eligible for deportation under the scheme, the treaty adds. The two governments signed the final text last week, with the European Commission giving its "green light on this innovative approach", Britain's Home Office said in a statement late on Monday. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wrote on X that the accord would come into force on Wednesday. "I reaffirm France's determination to stop the flow and save lives," he said. Refugee charities have criticised the deal, urging the British government to provide more safe and legal routes for asylum seekers instead. The number of migrants making the dangerous journey in flimsy dinghies this year crossed 25,000 at the end of July, the highest tally ever at this point in the year. The rise, which the government has partly attributed to extended periods of good weather, means Labour leader Starmer is struggling to fulfil one of his campaign main pledges from his general election win last year. In recent weeks, anti-immigration demonstrators and counter-protesters have clashed outside hotels housing asylum seekers in Britain, with some marches turning violent. Starmer has tried to portray the deal as a diplomatic victory after years of faltering cooperation between France and the UK on the politically sensitive issue. "This is the product of months of grown-up diplomacy delivering real results for British people as we broker deals no government has been able to achieve," he said. While the agreement has also met with criticism in northern France, where some officials say the scheme is too favourable to the UK, Nigel Farage's anti-immigrant Reform UK party says it does not go far enough to secure Britain's borders. There are no numbers mentioned in the treaty, and interior minister Yvette Cooper said Tuesday that she would not put a figure on how many migrants would be deported under the deal. UK media has reported that it could be about 50 a week. "Of course, it will start with lower numbers and then build, but we want to be able to expand it," Cooper told BBC radio. The Home Office this week pledged £100 million ($132 million) to beef up law enforcement "tackling" the gangs who organise the crossings. Starmer's government also said it would make it an offence to promote dangerous immigration routes into the UK on social media. Under the new provision, which will be part of a border security bill making its way through parliament, those found advertising such crossings could be fined and face up to five years in prison. According to Home Office analysis, 80 percent of migrants arriving via small boats told officials they used social media during the process. Agence France-Presse
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Middle East Eye
Exclusive: UK pushed Arab states to condemn Hamas in UN conference statement
Britain strongly pushed for a United Nations conference statement to demand the disarmament of Hamas and its withdrawal from Gaza, Middle East Eye has learnt. A UN conference in New York last week, attended by more than 100 countries and co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed to advance momentum for a two-state solution. The New York Declaration, released afterwards, demands that Hamas end its rule over Gaza and hand its weapons to the Palestinian Authority. Numerous diplomatic sources told MEE the UK was pivotal in pushing for these demands to be included in the statement, as well as the inclusion of strong language condemning the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The statement marked the first time that Arab League states have end0rsed such positions at the UN. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters It was described as "both historic and unprecedented" by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. He hailed that for "the first time" Arab and Middle Eastern countries "condemn Hamas, condemn 7 October, call for its disarmament, call for its exclusion from any form of participation in the governance of Palestine, and clearly express their intention to maintain normalised relations with Israel in the future and to join Israel and the future state of Palestine in a regional organisation". MEE has contacted the British Foreign Office for comment. UK and France to recognise Palestinian statehood During the conference, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that the UK intends to recognise Palestinian statehood in September, following France's commitment that it would do so days earlier. Barring a dramatic diplomatic reversal, France and Britain will become the first G7 countries to recognise Palestine. But these moves, and the UN conference, are unlikely to create any significant momentum towards a two-state solution. Will the UK recognising the State of Palestine make any difference? Read More » Neither the US nor Israel attended the conference, which the US State Department described as a "publicity stunt" that would "prolong the war, embolden Hamas, and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace". France's announcement on 24 July that it would recognise the state of Palestine in September provoked the ire of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who "strongly condemned" what he called a decision that "rewards terrorism". On 23 July, the Israeli parliament passed a non-binding motion calling on the Israeli government to annex the occupied West Bank. And on 4 August, unnamed sources close to Netanyahu briefed local media that he is now pushing for the full occupation of the besieged Gaza Strip. Channel 12 quoted "senior figures in the Prime Minister's Office" as saying: "The decision has been made, Israel is heading towards the occupation of the Gaza Strip." This would involve expanding ground operations into areas where captives are believed to be held, and into locations where Israeli troops have not operated for over a year, including western Gaza City and the central refugee camps. In these circumstances, a viable Palestinian state is highly unlikely to materialise.
Gulf Today
2 days ago
- Gulf Today
France expels Gaza student over anti-Semitic posts
A student from Gaza who had been studying in France on a scholarship left for Qatar on Sunday, ordered out over anti-Semitic comments found on her social media accounts, the foreign ministry said. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot "stressed the unacceptable nature of the comments made by Ms. Nour Attaalah, a Gazan student, before she entered French territory", said the ministry statement. "Given their seriousness, Ms. Attaalah could not remain on French territory. She left France today to go to Qatar to continue her studies there," it added. The student's lawyer, Ossama Dahmane, said Attaalah had chosen to "pursue her studies in another country in a spirit of appeasement and to guarantee her security", even if "she firmly denies the accusations made against her". Freeze on all Gaza student evacuation plans The young woman, who had received a student visa and a government scholarship as part of a programme for Gazan students, had been due to join Sciences Po Lille in the fall. She arrived in France on July 11, according to a French diplomatic source. But social media posts from the past two years calling for the killing of Jews, since deleted, were discovered. That led to a judicial investigation for condoning terrorism, and an inquiry to determine why the posts had not been detected in advance. AFP was unable to confirm the screen shots attributed to her by internet users and media outlets, but Sciences Po Lille said on Wednesday that her social media comments had been confirmed, without elaborating. Dahmane, the lawyer, said the "alleged facts are largely based on shared tweets, taken out of context." Barrot said on Friday that France was freezing all its student evacuation programmes from Gaza pending the outcome of the investigation into how the posts had been missed. The foreign ministry would not say how many students have been affected, citing privacy reasons. France has allowed in several hundred students from Gaza since the start of the war between Israel and the Hamas movement. Agence France-Presse
