JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accused French President Emmanuel Macron of siding with a “murderous Islamist terrorist organisation” after Macron criticised Israel’s blocking of aid to Gaza.
“Macron has once again chosen to stand with a murderous Islamist terrorist organisation and echo its despicable propaganda, accusing Israel of blood libels,“ a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.
“Instead of supporting the Western democratic camp fighting the Islamist terrorist organisations and calling for the release of the hostages, Macron is once again demanding that Israel surrender and reward terrorism,“ it added.
“Israel will not stop and will not surrender.”
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Macron accused Netanyahu’s government of “unacceptable” and “shameful” behaviour over its aid blockade on Gaza, which has been in force since March 2.
The United Nations and aid organisations have repeatedly warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the war-ravaged territory as famine again looms.
“What the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is doing is unacceptable... There is no water, no medicine, the wounded cannot get out, the doctors cannot get in. What he is doing is shameful,“ Macron told TF1 television Tuesday.
“We need the United States. President (Donald) Trump has the levers. I have had tough words with Prime Minister Netanyahu. I got angry, but they (Israel) don’t depend on us, they depend on American weapons,“ he added.
- ‘Should not preach morality’ -
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday also denounced Macron’s comments.
“We remember well what happened to the Jews in France when they couldn’t defend themselves. President Macron should not preach morality to us,“ Katz said in a statement.
The Israeli military “operates with the highest moral standards under difficult and complex circumstances -- certainly more so than France has done in its past wars,“ he added.
Israel resumed major operations across Gaza on March 18, with officials talking of retaining a long-term presence in the Palestinian territory.
Israel says that its renewed bombardments are aimed at forcing Hamas to free hostages.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is determined to accomplish all of Israel’s war goals, including the release of all our hostages, destroy Hamas’s military and governance capabilities and ensure that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel,“ the statement from the prime minister’s office said.
The war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Hamas is also holding the body of an Israeli soldier killed during a previous war in Gaza, in 2014.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 52,928 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.
