TEL AVIV, Israel
French President, Emmanuel Macron, arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to express his country's "full solidarity" with Israel after the deadly October 7 attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas, according to an AFP journalist.
His visit comes more than two
weeks after Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip and killed
at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burned to
death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials.
Among them were 30 French
citizens.
Macron was due to meet Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express France's "full
solidarity" with Israel after that attack, the French presidency said.
He was also expected to call
for the "preservation of the civilian population" in Gaza, amid
Israel's relentless bombardment, and as it prepares for a ground invasion of
the overcrowded Palestinian enclave.
More than 5,000 people, most
of them women and children, have died during Israel's attacks, according to
numbers given by the Hamas-run health ministry.
Macron will in particular call
for a "humanitarian truce" to allow desperately needed aid into Gaza,
whose 2.4 million people have been largely deprived of water, food, electricity
and other basic supplies after an Israeli blockade, the Elysee Palace said.
Macron and Netanyahu were due
to hold a joint press conference at 1:00 pm (1000 GMT).
The French head of state was
also due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as well as opposition leaders
Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid in Jerusalem.
And in Tel Aviv, he was due to
meet the families of French and French-Israeli nationals killed in the Hamas
attack or being held hostage in Gaza.
Seven French citizens are
still missing: one of them, a French woman, has been confirmed as among the
more than 200 people Israel says were taken hostage by Hamas.
Macron has said the others are
also thought to be hostages, but there has not yet been confirmation.
The French president also aims
to continue efforts "to avoid a dangerous escalation in the region",
the Elysee said, amid growing alarm over swelling cross-border exchanges
between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Macron will propose
relaunching a "true peace process", with the aim of creating a viable
Palestinian state in exchange for guarantees from regional powers towards
"Israel's security".
There will also probably be
exchanges with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, King Abdullah II of Jordan,
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and leaders of Gulf nations, the
Elysee said.
US President Joe Biden, German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime
Minister Giorgia Meloni have already visited Israel.
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