Macron tells Netanyahu Gaza operations must 'cease', death toll 'unacceptable'

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that Israeli operations in Gaza "must cease" as the human toll and humanitarian situation are deemed "unacceptable".

French President Emmanuel Macron walks past French Republican Guards who hold portraits of the French victims of the Oct.7 2023 Hamas' attack, during a ceremony at the Invalides monument, Wednesday, Feb.7, 2024. AP - Gonzalo Fuentes

In a telephone call Macron appears to have toughened his tone. The French leader expressed France's "firm opposition" to an Israeli offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, saying it "could only lead to a humanitarian disaster of a new magnitude" and aggravate the risk of regional escalation, according to a statement from the presidential Elysee palace.

French President Emmanuel Macron told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that France opposes an Israeli offensive in Rafah.https://t.co/eFtsL12K0d

— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) February 14, 2024

Ceasefire agreement

The French leader stressed that a ceasefire agreement should be reached "without further delay", adding that such a deal should "guarantee the protection of all civilians and the massive inflow of emergency aid".

Macron said that the lack of sufficient access to "a population in an absolute humanitarian emergency was unjustifiable," his office said.

He said it was "imperative to open the port of Ashdod" in Israel north of the Gaza strip, "a direct land route from Jordan and all the crossing points."

The French president also urged "the prime minister and all Israeli leaders to have the courage to offer their fellow citizens a future of peace", which he believes only the "creation of a Palestinian state" can achieve, the statement said.

On Tuesday, France said it was imposing sanctions against 28 "extremist Israeli settlers" whom it accuses of committing human rights abuses against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank.

• EU still divided over sanctions against Israeli settler violence

France will also be seeking sanctions at European level, the foreign ministry said.

Gaza violence

The latest Gaza war began after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to a tally by French news agency AFP based on official Israeli figures.

Un quartier de Rafah complètement rasé après l'intervention de l'armée israélienne pour libérer deux otages détenus par le Hamas le 12 février 2024. AP - Fatima Shbair

Militants also took about 250 people hostage, around 130 of whom are still in Gaza, according to Israeli figures. Israel says 29 of the remaining captives are presumed dead.

Israel's relentless bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza has killed at least 28,576 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the Palestinian territory.

(with newswires)