France 'determined' to recognise Palestinian state
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said this Tuesday that his country is "determined" to recognise a Palestinian state.
He also reaffirmed that Paris backed a Netherlands-led initiative for a review of the cooperation agreement between the European Union and Israel, which could affect political and economic ties.
"We cannot leave the children of Gaza a legacy of violence and hatred. So all this must stop, and that's why we are determined to recognise a Palestinian state," Barrot told France Inter radio.
"And I am actively working towards this, because we want to contribute to a political solution in the interest of the Palestinians but also for the security of Israel," he added.
President Emmanuel Macronhas left open the possibility that France could become the latest European nation to recognise a Palestinian state at a UN conference in June.
France could recognise Palestinian state 'in June': Macron
Barrot was speaking after Macron joined British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in a rare joint statement that angered Israel.
Thestatementsaid that "we will not stand by," threatened "further concrete actions" if Israel continued to block aid, and said that "We are committed to recognising a Palestinian state."
Pressed over what these actions could entail, Barrot again urged the EU to agree to the Dutch request to review the association agreement between Israel and the bloc and, in particular, examine if Israel was violating the accord's commitments on human rights.
He said this raises "the possibility of an eventual suspension" of an accord, which has political as well as commercial dimensions.
"Neither Israel or the EU have an interest in ending that accord," he added.
Britain, Canada, France threaten sanctions against Israel over Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorised a limited amount of humanitarian aid after more than two and a half months of a complete blockade of the Palestinian territory, which is facing a catastrophic humanitarian situation.
But Barrot said this was "totally insufficient".
The situation inGazais "indefensible because blind violence and the blocking of humanitarian aid by the Israeli government have turned Gaza into a death trap if not a cemetery."
In a warning to Israel, he added: "When you sow violence you harvest violence."
The war was sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.
Gaza's health ministry said Monday at least 3,340 people in the Palestinian territory have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,486.
(AFP)
Originally published on RFI
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Israeli gunfire kills at least 25 in Gaza as Netanyahu urges 'voluntary migration'
Published Aug 13, 2025 • 5 minute read Palestinians gather to receive cooked meals from a food distribution centre in Gaza City on Aug. 13, 2025. Israeli military said it had approved the framework for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas condemned what it called "aggressive" Israeli ground incursions in Gaza City. The approval for the expanded offensive comes days after Israel's security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza's largest city, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory. Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images TEL AVIV — Israeli gunfire killed at least 25 people seeking aid in Gaza on Wednesday, health officials and witnesses said, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again called for what he refers to as the voluntary migration of Palestinians from the war-ravaged territory. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Netanyahu wants to realize U.S. President Donald Trump's vision of relocating much of Gaza's population of over 2 million people through what he refers to as 'voluntary migration' — and what critics have warned could be ethnic cleansing. 'Give them the opportunity to leave! First, from combat zones, and also from the strip if they want,' Netanyahu said in an interview aired Tuesday with Israeli TV station i24 to discuss the planned offensive in areas that include Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people shelter. 'We are not pushing them out but allowing them to leave.' Witnesses and staff at Nasser and Awda hospitals, which received the bodies, said people were shot on their way to aid distribution sites or while awaiting convoys entering Gaza. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Efforts to revive ceasefire talks have resumed after apparently breaking down last month. Hamas and Egyptian officials met Wednesday in Cairo, according to Hamas official Taher al-Nounou. Israel has no plans to send its negotiating team to talks in Cairo, Netanyahu's office said. Israel's plans to widen its military offensive against Hamas to parts of Gaza it does not yet control have sparked condemnation at home and abroad, and could be intended to raise pressure on Hamas to reach a ceasefire. The militants still hold 50 hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war. Israel believes around 20 are still alive. Families fear a new offensive endangers them. When asked by i24 News if the window had closed on a partial ceasefire deal, Netanyahu responded that he wanted all hostages back, alive and dead. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters that Cairo is still trying to advance an earlier proposal for an initial 60-day ceasefire, the release of some hostages and an influx of humanitarian aid before further talks on a lasting truce. Hamas says it will only release the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The militant group has refused to disarm. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries condemned Netanyahu's remark to i24 News that he was 'very' attached to the vision of a Greater Israel. He did not elaborate, but supporters of the idea believe that Israel should control not only the occupied West Bank but parts of Arab countries. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Israel and South Sudan are in talks about relocating Palestinians to the war-torn East African nation, The Associated Press reported Tuesday. The office of Israel's deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, said she was arriving in South Sudan for meetings in the first visit there by a senior Israeli government official, but she did not plan to broach the subject of moving Palestinians. South Sudan's ministry of foreign affairs in a statement called reports that it was engaging in discussions with Israel about resettling Palestinians baseless. The AP previously reported that the United States and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations for Palestinians uprooted from Gaza. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Among those killed while seeking aid were 14 Palestinians in the Teina area approximately 3 km from a food distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to staff at Nasser hospital. Hashim Shamalah said Israeli troops fired toward them as people tried to get through. Many were shot and fell while fleeing, he said. Israeli gunfire killed five other Palestinians while trying to reach another GHF distribution site in the Netzarim corridor area, according to Awda hospital and witnesses. The Israeli military said it wasn't aware of any casualties from Israeli fire in that area. GHF said there were no incidents at or near its sites Wednesday. The U.S. and Israel support GHF, an American contractor, as an alternative to the United Nations, which they claim allows Hamas to siphon off aid. The UN, which has delivered aid throughout Gaza for decades when conditions allow, denies the allegations. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Aid convoys from other groups travel within 100 meters of GHF sites and draw crowds. An overwhelming majority of violent incidents over the past few weeks have been related to those convoys, the GHF said. Israeli fire killed at least six other people waiting for aid trucks close to the Morag corridor, which separates parts of southern Gaza, Nasser hospital said. Israel says it killed Hamas militant who took hostages The Israeli military said Wednesday that it killed last week a Hamas militant who took part in the 2023 attack that started the war. It blamed Abdullah Saeed Abd al-Baqin for participating in the abduction of three Israeli hostages. The Hamas-led attack abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel's air and ground offensive has since displaced most of Gaza's population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory toward famine. The offensive has killed more than 61,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own. Palestinian fatally shot in West Bank violence An Israeli settler shot dead a Palestinian on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israeli military said dozens of Palestinians hurled rocks toward an off-duty soldier and another person carrying out 'engineering works' near the village of Duma, lightly wounding them. It said the soldier initially fired warning shots, then opened fire in self-defence. The Health Ministry identified the deceased as Thamin Dawabshe, 35, a distant relative of a family targeted in a 2015 firebombing in the village by a settler. That attack killed a toddler and his parents. The attacker was convicted and handed three life sentences. The West Bank has seen a rise in settler violence as well as Palestinian attacks since the start of the war in Gaza, and the Israeli military has carried out major military operations there. Rights groups and Palestinians say the military often turns a blind eye to violent settlers or intervenes to protect them. Read More Editorial Cartoons Toronto Maple Leafs Columnists Columnists Toronto & GTA
Calgary Herald
2 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
Israel military says it's approved plan for new Gaza offensive
Article content JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had approved the framework for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas condemned what it called 'aggressive' Israeli ground incursions in Gaza City. Article content The approval for the expanded offensive comes days after Israel's security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza's largest city, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory. Article content Article content Israeli armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir 'approved the main framework for the IDF's operational plan in the Gaza Strip,' a statement released by the army said. Article content Article content Prime Benjamin Minister Netanyahu's government has not provided a precise timetable for when Israeli troops will enter Gaza City, where thousands have taken refuge after fleeing previous offensives. Article content Ismail Al-Thawabta, director general of the Hamas government media office in Gaza, told AFP on Wednesday that 'the Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out aggressive incursions in Gaza City.' Article content 'These assaults represent a dangerous escalation aimed at imposing a new reality on the ground by force, through a scorched-earth policy and the complete destruction of civilian property,' he added. Article content Sabah Fatoum, 51, who lives in a tent in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City told AFP by phone that 'the explosions are massive' in the area. Article content Article content There are 'many air strikes and tanks are advancing in the southern area of Tal al-Hawa with drones above our heads,' she said. Article content 'The tanks are still there, and I saw dozens of civilians fleeing' to the west of the city, she added. Article content Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, with the residential neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra hit 'with very heavy air strikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings'. Article content Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Israeli strikes or fire had killed at least 35 people across Gaza on Wednesday. Article content 'Just escaped death' Article content AFP footage from Gaza City on Tuesday showed Palestinians fleeing Israeli strikes on the Zeitoun and Asqoola using overladen carts, vans and bikes.
Japan Forward
3 hours ago
- Japan Forward
US-Russia Summit: Appease the Invader, Trigger a New War
このページを 日本語 で読む United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in Alaska on August 15. This will be the first face-to-face meeting between the US and Russian leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The summit offers a crucial opportunity to impose tougher sanctions and thereby force Putin to accept a ceasefire. However, there are causes for concern about Trump's diplomatic approach. In the past he has rebuked Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who should be considered an ally, saying, "You have no cards." He has also made some unreasonable decisions, such as temporarily suspending the provision of military assistance to Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (©Kyodo) Trump has mentioned the possibility of prolonged negotiations with Russia. We would like to see such negotiations proceed in coordination with Ukraine and the major European countries. First, however, the US should press for a ceasefire by imposing tougher sanctions. Those might include "secondary tariffs" on countries like China and India that support the invasion by importing Russian oil. Trump has said that his peace plan includes "the return of some territory and the swapping of some territory." Concessions such as the withdrawal of Russian troops from certain Ukrainian territories in exchange for the transfer of the Crimean Peninsula and occupied territories in the east to Russia must not be made over Ukraine's head. To do so would only open the door for Russia to invade the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. Ignoring the fact that Russia is the aggressor, Putin has demanded the "elimination of the root causes of the conflict." That, he says, is a precondition for a ceasefire. In that, Putin would also deny Ukraine's right to become a member of NATO or strengthen its military. A hospital building in Sumy Oblast, northeastern Ukraine, was attacked by Russia, September 2024 (Provided by the National Police of Ukraine, Reuters via Kyodo) The Russian president is also demanding that Ukraine recognize Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and cede four eastern and southern Ukrainian provinces to Russia. These are unreasonable demands tantamount to requiring Ukraine to abjectly surrender. The world should not be fooled by Putin's bluff. Russia has been economically exhausted by years of war. Drawing a ceasefire line is one thing. But as far as the fundamental issue of national sovereignty in the form of territory is concerned, Ukraine will certainly not agree to any deal that would benefit the aggressor by ceding Ukrainian soil. Such a bargain would only encourage other authoritarian countries, including China, to commit acts of aggression. Trump says that he is trying to prevent World War III. World War II officially started when Germany and the Soviet Union jointly invaded Poland in the fall of 1939. But the stage for the conflict had been set in 1938. That was when Great Britain and France agreed that part of Czechoslovakia could be ceded to Germany at the Munich Conference. We should approach the August 15 summit mindful of the lesson from history that appeasement of an invader can trigger a new war. Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun このページを 日本語 で読む
