Israel is responsible for the blockade of humanitarian aid and the “unjustifiable” situation in the Gaza Strip. French Foreign Minister Stéphane Sejournay condemned this in Saturday's 'Le Monde' newspaper.
“Responsibility for the aid blockade is clearly Israeli,” Séjourné underlined. He sees “an indefensible and unjustifiable situation in which the Israelis take responsibility.”
France has repeatedly asked Israeli authorities to open more border crossings and allow more trucks carrying humanitarian aid, but those efforts have not yielded the desired results. Meanwhile, many countries are trying to deliver aid by air. Belgium also announced on Friday that it was suspending humanitarian aid to Gaza.
On Thursday, the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza turned into a disaster. Witnesses said Israeli soldiers opened fire on hungry people who rushed toward trucks carrying humanitarian aid. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas militants, 115 people were killed and 760 wounded.
France has demanded an independent investigation. Meanwhile, Séjourné worries about the “stalemate in Rafah” in the south of the Gaza Strip, where nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are trapped by the closed border with Egypt and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to launch a ground offensive. Hamas' last bastion.
That would be “a new humanitarian disaster,” Séjourné said. “We're doing everything we can to avoid that.”
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