Macron calls on world to ‘work toward a cease-fire’ in Gaza

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron called Thursday for the world to strive to obtain a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, at the opening of a conference on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.

In carefully calibrated remarks, Macron went further than before in calling for Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip to halt. “We need to work harder to protect civilians. We need a very quick humanitarian pause and we need to work toward a cease-fire,” he told delegates at the conference at the Elysée Palace.

World leaders, ministers and foreign diplomats gathered in Paris for a summit billed as an opportunity to discuss concrete actions to get aid into Gaza and make pledges to fund aid operations. Only a trickle of aid is reaching the displaced populations in the Gaza Strip as Israel continues its retaliatory military operations and bombing campaign against the Hamas militant group.

Many around the table called for urgent action and spoke of their concern for the plight of people in Gaza, a few days after the Hamas-controlled health authority said Israel’s military operations had killed more than 10,000 Palestinians. But there were nuances when it came to calling for a cease-fire, which has become a divisive word as some feel it denies Israel the right to defend itself against aggression while others believe not demanding it signals a disregard for Palestinian lives.

Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said “the absolute priority is a cease-fire that would be observed by all parties” in a speech to delegates. Speaking after the conference, however, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he was in favor of humanitarian pauses, instead of a cease-fire.

“There can’t be a cease-fire when Hamas continues to launch missiles on Israel because we cannot disregard Israeli civilians,” Tajani said in response to a question from POLITICO.

While no concrete solutions for getting aid and assistance into Gaza emerged from the conference, it was an opportunity for several countries to make fresh pledges of support. France pledged to donate €100 million to aid agencies and NGOs working in Palestinian territory.

Giorgio Leali contributed reporting.