France reaffirms its position.
The head of French diplomacy, Stéphane Séjourné, said Sunday in Cairo “refuse” any “forced displacement” towards Egypt of Gazans, fleeing the bombings of the war between Israel and Hamas and are now crowding at the gates of Sinai .
As part of the first stage of his tour in the Middle East, Stéphane Séjourné declared to his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Choukri: “You are concerned about the forced displacement of populations on your territory.
We fully understand these concerns and (…) France’s position is constant: we condemn and we will refuse any action taken in this direction.”
Extensive exchanges with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Sameh Choukri.
We continue to mobilize for the release of the hostages and cooperate together to respond to the humanitarian emergency in Gaza.
pic.twitter.com/ErSyZHQIWZ
— Stéphane Séjourné (@steph_sejourne) February 4, 2024
After taking the city of Gaza, in the north of the small Palestinian territory, then that of Khan Younès, further south, the Israeli army is now threatening Rafah, the very last Palestinian city before the Egyptian border where, according to the UN, more than 1.3 million displaced.
Egypt has been warning since October against a “forced transfer” of Gazans to its Sinai desert, fearing the creation of new Palestinian refugees, as was the case in 1948 with the creation of Israel, who will not benefit from “ right of return”.
“Reopening a political perspective”
While talks are increasing via Qatari and Egyptian mediators for a possible truce, Paris wants “a ceasefire but also prepare for the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza with renewed governance,” he added. .
Since 2007, the Palestinians have lived under two rival governments, that of Hamas in Gaza and that of the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas which controls parts of the occupied West Bank.
Also read: Israel-Hamas war: Rafah border crossing, negotiations… why Egypt is an essential player
Asked about the possibility of recognizing a State of Palestine, Stéphane Séjourné estimated that this step would mark “the finalization of a political process”.
“This is the logic (…) The whole question is to know when, at what moment and also under what conditions”, he said again, pleading for two Palestinian and Israeli states within the 1967 borders with “the Gaza Strip attached to the future Palestinian state.
At the end of January, the British Foreign Minister, David Cameron, called for “examining (…) the question of recognition of a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations”.
For his first tour in the region, Stéphane Séjourné will then go to Jordan, Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Lebanon to “work for a ceasefire and the release of hostages” and “convince us to reopen a perspective policy” based on the two-state solution, according to his ministry.
The war between Israel and Hamas was triggered on October 7 by an attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,160 people, the majority civilians killed the same day, according to a count of AFP based on official Israeli figures.
Since then, 27,365 Palestinians, the vast majority women, children and adolescents, have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli bombings and military operations, according to a latest report released Sunday by the Hamas Ministry of Health.