On Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, arrived in Tel Aviv to express his country’s “full solidarity” with Israel, according to an AFP journalist.
The French head of state was also expected to call for the “preservation of the civilian population” in Gaza, as Israel brings out a persistent bombardment of the Palestinian enclave and prepares for a ground invasion following the October 7 attack by Hamas militant group, the presidency said.
Macron’s visit comes more than two weeks after Israeli officials said that the Palestinian militants Hamas stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip and killed at least 1,400 people, including 30 French citizens.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli air strikes on Gaza have killed more than 5,000 people, most of them women and children.
Macron was scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express France’s “full solidarity” with Israel after the invasion, the French presidency said.
Macron will in particular call for a “humanitarian truce” to allow desperately needed aid into Gaza, where an Israeli blockade has deprived 2.4 million people of water, food, electricity, and other basic supplies, the Elysee Palace said.
Macron and Netanyahu were due to hold a joint press conference at 1:00 p.m. (1000 GMT).
The French head of state was also scheduled to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as well as opposition leaders Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid.
And in Tel Aviv, he was scheduled to meet the families of French and French-Israeli nationals killed in the Hamas invasion or being held hostage in Gaza.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have already visited Israel.
