Macron slams disaster waiting to happen in Gaza, wants UN mission
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday slammed Israel's plans to step up its military operation in Gaza as a disaster waiting to happen and proposed an international coalition under a United Nations mandate to stabilise Gaza.
Last week, Israel's security cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, in a move that expanded its military operations in the shattered Palestinian territory and drew strong criticism at home and abroad.
"The Israeli cabinet's announcement of an expansion of its operations in Gaza City and the Mawasi camps and for a re-occupation heralds a disaster of unprecedented gravity waiting to happen and of a drift towards a never-ending war," said Macron, in remarks sent by his office to reporters.
"The Israeli hostages and the people of Gaza will continue to be the primary victims of this strategy," added Macron.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not immediately return a request for comment. Responding to international criticism in a press conference on Sunday, he said Israel is "applying force judiciously".
By proposing a U.N.-mandated mission in Gaza, Macron is seeking to build on the momentum created by his recognition of a Palestinian state last month, which set off a domino of recognitions, with Britain and Canada following suit.
Macron said the U.N. mission would be tasked with securing the Gaza Strip, protecting civilians and working in support of unspecified Palestinian governance. He said the U.N. Security Council should work on establishing the mission.
"I have asked my teams to work on that with our partners without delay," he added.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
16 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Israel's Military Chief Under Fire From Netanyahu Government
TEL AVIV—Tension is growing between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin's government and the head of the country's military, whom some ministers see as out of step with a plan to expand the war in Gaza after 22 months of fighting. Israeli lawmakers in recent days have stepped up public criticism of the military's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, who pushed back against a plan to take over Gaza in a security cabinet meeting last week, a person familiar with the matter said.
American Military News
an hour ago
- American Military News
Cambodia targets workers in crackdown on scam centers
This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission. Cambodia's government on Friday said that at least 2,000 people have been arrested in a crackdown ordered this week by prime minister Hun Manet on scam centers — prison-like compounds that aid groups say run on the work of human trafficking victims. Images and videos released by state-controlled media showed people running from alleged scam-center sites, Cambodian troops inspecting seized electronic equipment and groups of detainees in plastic wrist ties. Officials said detained workers included Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Indian nationals. Information Minister Neth Pheaktra told Agence France-Presse that authorities had expanded the scope of their raids to nine of the country's 25 provinces and will 'dismantle every scam network no matter where they hide.' The move comes after an Amnesty International report released last month said that the Cambodian government was 'deliberately ignoring a litany of human rights abuses' at the centers, 'including slavery, human trafficking, child labour and torture being carried out by criminal gangs on a vast scale' at at least 53 sites across the country. Scam centers have also figured into Cambodia's recent political tensions with neighboring Thailand. As she closed border crossings between the two nations last month, the now-ousted Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra cited Cambodia's scam centers as 'a hub of world-class criminality and a national threat.' Across Southeast Asia, scam centers generate nearly $40 billion in annual profits, according to a United Nations estimate. Rong Chhun, an adviser to the opposition Nation Power Party in Cambodia, told RFA Khmer that shutting down scam centers would require targeting organizers, not workers. 'If we only target and sweep up the workers hired by these masterminds without capturing the leaders themselves, it won't be long before the operations reappear,' he said. Ny Sokha, president of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, said the Cambodian government must find and prosecute those who have allowed scam centers to take root and flourish. 'If the government is truly committed to eliminating gambling and especially online scams, I believe further investigation is needed to uncover those behind the scenes. Regardless of how powerful or influential they may be, they must be brought to justice in accordance with the law.' Based on interviews with 423 former Cambodian scam-center workers, the Amnesty International report described adult and child workers as young as 14 being attacked with electric-shock batons, being held in cages and being sent to 'dark rooms' for punishment if they failed to meet productivity targets. Nearly all of the workers Amnesty interviewed had been lured using deceptive recruitment tactics and false promises of legitimate jobs. In May, United Nations officials described brutal conditions at scam centers across Southeast Asia. 'Once trafficked, victims are deprived of their liberty and subjected to torture, ill treatment, severe violence and abuse including beatings, electrocution, solitary confinement and sexual violence. They have limited access to food and clean water, and must endure cramped and unsanitary living conditions,' their statement said. A former scam-center worker named Tu Anh Tu told RFA in 2024 that he accepted a job in Bavet, a Cambodian border town, after a friend vouched for an employment offer. He described confinement in a gated compound, trainings on how to scam targets using social media, and enduring a severe beating that knocked out three teeth and left him covered in lash marks when organizers thought he had contacted Cambodian police. Includes reporting from Agence-France Presse.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Israel's Energy Influence Expands Even During Gaza War
Nearly two years after the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, and the resulting Gaza war that has further isolated Israel diplomatically, the Jewish State announced the largest export deal in its history. NewMed Energy, in connection with Leviathan Partners, announced that it had signed a $35 billion deal to export natural gas from Israel's offshore Leviathan natural gas field to Egypt. The off taker will be Blue Ocean Energy, who will import that gas into Egypt until approximately 2040. The transaction, which will involve the drilling of new wells and the connection of new pipelines to Egypt, deepens the ties between the two nations that border Gaza at a time of extreme stress between them. In fact, the Gaza war has infuriated many in Egypt, but Egypt has so far refused to accept any Gaza refugees or allow more aid to flow from Egypt into Gaza. Regardless of the feelings of many Egyptians, its ruler, General Al-Sisi, understands that his country needs energy. The cheapest and easiest place to find it is in the Leviathan Field. As a result, political considerations like the future of Gaza give way to the everyday needs of the Egyptian people, who struggle to advance, if not simply survive, without a reliable energy supply. The deal involves the sale of approximately 130 bcm of natural gas to Egypt over the next 15 years, which is approximately equal to two years of supply for the Arab nation. To accomplish this, NewMed will increase its sale of gas to Egypt from 4.5 bcm to 6.5 bcm later this year or early next year, a move that will save Egypt an enormous amount of money. A political aspect of the deal is that it shows the centrality of energy in the Middle Eastern region, something of which Lebanon is sure to take note. In 2022, Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement on developing the offshore Karish gas field in Israeli waters and the adjacent Qana gas field in Lebanese waters. While Hezbollah has threatened to torpedo that deal and some Israelis have discussed terminating it as well due to Hezbollah's shelling of northern Israel following October 7, the agreement remains. Now, as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has been openly discussing disarming Hezbollah, natural gas remains available to Lebanon on which to rebuild its shattered economy. To summarize, despite massive political support in the West, the Palestinians remain extremely isolated in their home region. Egypt's move further amplifies how mere rhetorical support for the Gazans only goes so far. As much as Israeli military pressure may eventually wear down Hamas, it may ultimately be Arab economic needs that finally force Hamas to reevaluate its position of seeming to be willing to "fight to the bitter end,' no matter the cost.
