French President Emmanuel Macron on 13 May accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “unacceptable” and “shameful” behaviour in relation to blocking aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“What Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is doing is unacceptable No water, no medicine, the wounded can’t get out, doctors can’t get in. What he is doing is disgraceful,” Macron told TF1 television, adding that on this issue “we need the United States.”
“President (US President Donald) Trump has leverage. I had tough conversations with Prime Minister Netanyahu. I got angry, but they (Israel) don’t depend on us, they depend on American weapons,” he added.
Israel’s military operation against Hamas (recognised as a terrorist group in the EU and the US), which holds sway in the Gaza Strip, has continued with little interruption since the group’s militants invaded Israel on October 7, 2023. Some 1,200 people were killed in that attack and more than 250 others were taken hostage. Some of them have been exchanged, Israeli media believe at least 21 of the 58 remaining in Gaza are currently being held alive.
According to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 45,000 residents of the territory, there is no independent confirmation of this data. Gaza also did not specify how many of the dead were civilians and how many were militants.
The Israel Defence Forces also lost several hundred soldiers during its operation.