PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called for an end to the fighting in Gaza, saying France was lending its “full support” to mediation efforts in the war between Israel and Hamas.
“The war in Gaza must stop,” Macron wrote on X. “This must be clear to everyone.”
An end of hostilities was “crucial for the people of Gaza, for the hostages, and for the stability of the region, which is at stake today.”
On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had agreed to resume Gaza ceasefire talks on August 15 at the request of US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have tried to secure a second truce in the 10-month-old war sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel.
The three countries invited the warring parties to resume talks in Doha or Cairo “to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay.”
Macron also spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Thursday and the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on Friday, his office said.
The three leaders called on all parties “to put an end, at all costs, to this logic of retaliation which risks setting the region ablaze to the detriment of everyone,” said a statement from the Elysee Palace.
The statement called for “a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip without further delay, in order to free all the hostages, protect the people of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid on a large scale.”
Macron also “welcomed the diplomatic efforts led by Egypt and Qatar in conjunction with the United States,” the three mediating countries, his office added.
Macron also discussed the crisis with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and the two leaders “expressed their deepest concern at the rising tensions in the region,” the Elysee Palace said.
Macron and Starmer backed the statement by the United States, Egypt and Qatar calling for a rapid resumption of negotiations on the ceasefire and the release of the hostages, Macron’s office added.
