French President Emmanuel Macron was Tuesday set to become
the first Western leader to meet both Israel’s premier and the Palestinian
president, more than two weeks into the brutal Gaza conflict that has claimed
thousands of lives.
As Israel battles Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas after
suffering the worst attack in its 75-year history, Macron visited to express
solidarity but also to stress the need to protect Gaza’s civilian population in
the withering bombing campaign.
Hamas in its October 7 attack on southern Israel killed more
than 1,400 people and took over 200 hostages, Israeli officials say.
Retaliatory air and artillery strikes since then have killed over 5,000 in
Gaza, according to the Hamas-ruled health ministry.
Israeli strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip overnight killed another 140 people, Hamas said after the militant group released two more of the Israeli and foreign hostages it abducted.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Monday urged an
“immediate humanitarian ceasefire” for Gaza where about half of the population
of 2.4 million has been driven from their homes.
Macron, the latest of a string of Western leaders to visit
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the US, British and German leaders
went there, was the first who was also set to visit Palestinian president
Mahmud Abbas in the occupied West Bank.
“The first objective we should have today is the release of
all hostages, without any distinction, because this is an awful crime to play
with the lives of children, adults, old people, civilians and soldiers,” Macron
said after meeting Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.
“I want you to be sure that you’re not left alone in this
war against terrorism,” Macron told Herzog.
Macron stressed that the campaign must be fought without
“enlarging this conflict” as concern has grown about more of Israel’s enemies
across the Middle East entering the war.
On his visit Macron will also propose relaunching a “genuine
peace process”, with the aim of creating a viable Palestinian state in exchange
for guarantees from regional powers towards “Israel’s security”, his office
said.
– Two more hostages
freed –
Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to destroy Hamas and warned
of a looming ground invasion of Gaza, raising the spectre of heavy urban combat
and heightening the risk for the hostages.
Israel on Monday greeted with relief the release of two of
the captives — Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85 — who were freed
late Monday and airlifted to an Israeli hospital to be reunited with family.
Hamas released them citing “compelling humanitarian”
reasons, after mediation by Qatar and Egypt, but did not free their elderly
husbands.
Their release came days after a US mother and her teenage
daughter were also handed over to Israel.
Earlier in Washington, US President Joe Biden allowed for
the possibility of a ceasefire if the others are freed, telling journalists
that “we should have those hostages released and then we can talk”.
Lifshitz recounted the shock of her abduction by Hams
gunmen, telling Israeli media: “They loaded me on a motorcycle sideways so I
wouldn’t fall, with one terrorist holding me from the front and the other from
behind.”
– ‘Shattered body’ –
The Hamas surprise attack, which left Israel reeling and
enraged, led it to launch operation “Swords of Iron” in which it has fired a
near-continuous barrage of strikes on Gaza and called up more than 300,000
reservists.
Israel has cut off water, food, fuel and energy supplies to
Gaza, and only a trickle of aid has been allowed to cross into Gaza from Egypt
in recent days under a US-brokered deal.
The UN World Health Organization warned that more than one
third of Gaza’s hospitals are “not functioning” and limited fuel supplies were
impacting the fleet of ambulances in the territory, where thousands have been
injured.
While the Israeli military has claimed success in
“eliminating high-ranking commanders” and destroying Hamas infrastructure,
humanitarian groups have said that Palestinian civilians are paying too high a
price.
Thousands of buildings have been levelled in the densely
populated enclave, with entire city blocks reduced to rubble and many victims
still feared buried beneath.
Gaza City resident Ayman Abu Shamalah was among the tens of
thousands who heeded an Israeli warning to flee the north of the enclave, but
this did not spare his family from tragedy.
An Israeli air strike on Rafah in southern Gaza killed his
pregnant wife as well as their three-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter,
he told AFP tearfully.
“They put my son’s shattered body in a blue bag,” he said.
– Tunnel labyrinth –
Israel has shown little sign of slowing its looming
offensive, although the timing of an anticipated full-scale ground invasion
remains unclear.
“We are well prepared for the ground operations in the
south,” Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told troops.
“The Southern Command has quality operational plans. There
are tactical, operative and strategic considerations that have provided additional
time.”
Hamas has built a labyrinth of tunnels which the Israeli
military has darkly dubbed the “Gaza Metro” and would be expected to meet
invading forces with booby traps and surprise attacks, spelling costly
house-to-house fighting.
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