Gaza: Faced with the "foretold disaster," Macron proposes a UN stabilization mission

The announcement by Israeli authorities of "an expansion of its operation in Gaza City and the Mawasi camps and a reoccupation by Israel constitutes a disaster of unprecedented gravity and a headlong rush into permanent war," the French president declared, according to the Élysée Palace. Israeli hostages and the people of Gaza "will continue to be the first victims of this strategy," he added.

The French president was responding for the first time to Benjamin Netanyahu's government's plan to take control of Gaza City and target Hamas's last strongholds, a plan that has drawn fierce criticism around the world . The Israeli prime minister, for his part, claims that this option is "the best way to end the war" against Hamas in Gaza.

The French president is proposing "an international coalition under a UN mandate," "the priority" to "fight terrorism, stabilize Gaza, support its populations and establish a governance of peace and stability," according to the Élysée.

"We laid the only credible foundations for this with Saudi Arabia in New York, by obtaining for the first time a unanimous call for the disarmament of Hamas and the release of the hostages by regional actors," he added in a statement.

The idea of such a mission was put forward on July 30 at a UN conference that resulted in a declaration by 17 countries, including Qatar and Egypt. The mission would be intended, among other things, to protect the civilian population, "support the transfer of security responsibilities" to the Palestinian Authority, and provide "security guarantees for Palestine and Israel, including monitoring" a future ceasefire, it was decided.