France's Emmanuel Macron, who is in Dubai for COP28, warned on Saturday that Israel's goal of "completely eliminating Hamas" could lead to a "decade of war." In response, Macron called on all parties to work for a "lasting ceasefire".
At a press conference in Dubai, Macron asked: "Completely eliminate Hamas", "Who would think that this is possible?".He went on to say that "if this is the goal, the war will probably last ten years", and Macron called on the Israeli authorities to "clarify this goal". Macron also warned: beware"Endless wars"of ghosts.
The brief Israeli-Kazakh truce ended with renewed Israeli bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas's bloody attack on Israel on 7 October. But Macron believes that "the right way to fight terrorism is not a systematic and permanent bombardment", and he expressed "great concern" that the truce agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Movement in power in Gaza expires on Friday. Macron added that "the right response against terrorist groups is not the destruction of entire territories or the bombing of civilian facilities".
In Macron's view, the crux of the matter lies in Israel's "lasting security", which cannot be guaranteed if "it is at the cost of Palestinian lives and therefore the discontent of all the public ** in the region".
In light of this, Macron called for "redoubling efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire, to ensure the release of all hostages still held by Hamas and to provide much-needed assistance to the people of Gaza".
The French head of state also called for "the political objective of fulfilling the two-state solution, while assuring Israel that its security has been restored, to meet the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians".
"You will not be able to build your own long-term security if the approach you adopt to security provokes political despair and thus fuels all resentment", Macron warned, stressing that "the Palestinian people have the legitimate right to independent statehood".
Regarding the release of the hostages still being held by Hamas, he said that "it will take a few days" and mentioned that "negotiations are still ongoing".
France** will travel to Qatar on Saturday night to help restart the Israeli-Kazakhstan ceasefire. He will have dinner with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar.
The hostage-for-prisoner truce between Israel and Hamas expired on Friday morning, with Hamas releasing 105 hostages, Israel releasing 240 Palestinian prisoners and allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The death toll rising as the Israeli army bombed the Gaza Strip on Saturday and said it had attacked Palestinian territory since the resumption of hostilities on Friday morning, according to AFP correspondents"More than 400 targets", which includes 50 targets in the Khan Younes region, where the morgues of the main hospital are already overcrowded.
On Saturday, the Hamas-led Palestinian health agency in Gaza announced that 240 people had died and 650 injured since the truce expired.