French President Emmanuel Macron warned Israel’s military offensive in Gaza is destroying the country’s credibility.
“These types of operations in Gaza [are] totally counterproductive; this is, I have to say, a failure,” Macron said in an interview with Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 published Thursday night.
“You are making so many civilians casualties and victims that you are completely destroying the credibility and image of Israel not only in the region but in public opinion everywhere,” he added.
Israel has been bombarding the coastal enclave for nearly two years following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack spearheaded by Hamas. This week the Israel Defense Forces launched a new ground offensive to seize Gaza City, escalating its campaign against the Palestinian militant group.
Macron condemned the operation as “a huge mistake” which, he said, will open a new discussion in Europe about imposing sanctions against “key people who are backing settlements.”
The French leader’s remarks come amid a bitter diplomatic clash with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
Macron announced in late July that France would move ahead with recognition, alongside other countries, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 22.
The announcement sparked a war of words with Israel.
In an Aug. 17 letter, Netanyahu accused Macron of fueling antisemitism and rewarding “Hamas terror” with the move to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Macron, in a written reply, rejected the accusations and in Thursday’s interview said he was personally “hurt” by Netanyahu’s claims.
“I think it’s a huge mistake on the part of your prime minister, because he is giving a justification to antisemitism, putting it on my shoulders because probably it was his objective. But there is no justification to antisemitism,” he said.
Defending France’s policy, Macron said that recognizing Palestinian statehood is “the best way to isolate Hamas” and warned that this “is probably the last minute before proposing the two states would become completely impossible.”
In response to France’s initiative, Israeli officials are weighing a range of countermeasures, including shuttering the French consulate in Jerusalem and accelerating West Bank annexations.
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