French top diplomat in Israel to call for Gaza truce

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna arrived in Israel Sunday where she was due to press for an "immediate and durable" truce in the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

France's Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna previously called for an "immediate" humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas war as casualties climb in the besieged Gaza Strip, like here in Doha on 5 November 2023. AFP - KARIM JAAFAR

France calls for an "immediate and durable" truce in the Gaza war, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Sunday, stressing Paris is "deeply concerned" over the situation in the Palestinian territory.

 "Too many civilians are being killed," the top diplomat said in remarks alongside her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen in Tel Aviv, while stressing that the victims of Hamas's October 7 attack should not be forgotten.

Colonna met her counterpart, as Israel presses on with its military offensive after the 7 October attacks that has left much of Gaza in ruins and sent tensions spiralling across the region.

À mon homologue @elicohen, j’ai redit l’attachement de la 🇫🇷 à la sécurité d’#Israël face au terrorisme, l’urgence d’une trêve humanitaire à #Gaza pour la libération des otages et l’accès humanitaire & l’importance de tout faire pour éviter une escalade avec le #Liban. pic.twitter.com/J0EMx3NJjv

— Catherine Colonna (@MinColonna) December 17, 2023

Paris on Saturday condemned an Israeli strike in Gaza that killed a French foreign ministry employee, demanding that "light be shed" on the circumstances.

Colonna is also due to meet the families of French hostages still held in Gaza and to call for an "immediate and durable new humanitarian truce", according to a foreign ministry statement.

The truce should lead to a lasting ceasefire with the aim of releasing all hostages and delivering aid to Gaza, it said.

Israel has come under increasing international pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza, where its offensive against Hamas militants has killed at least 18,800 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory's Hamas government.

• Palestinian media reports dozens killed in Israel airstrikes

The offensive comes in response to Hamas's unprecedented 7 October attacks in southern Israel in which about 1,140 people were killed, mostly civilians, and about 250 taken hostage, according to latest Israeli figures.

The French top diplomat will also meet her Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki in the occupied West Bank.

Shortly before her arrival in Israel, Colonna condemned increasing attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank.

"Since 7 October, unfortunately, some settlers, driven by their ideological blindness... have committed crimes" against Palestinians, she said, adding that "these settlers must be punished".

More than 280 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the war in Gaza erupted on 7 October, health officials say.

 (AFP)