ISRAEL – Netanyahu slams Macron over West Bank remarks

TEL AVIV, Sept 23 (ATSH-DPA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for his remarks at the UN General Assembly on the situation in the West Bank.

Speaking at the UN’s annual General Debate, Macron said Israel was committing daily violations in the occupied territory, despite the fact that Hamas had never held sway in the West Bank, unlike Gaza.

“Look at what is happening in the West Bank, day after day, we see violations. And in whose name? Hamas has never operated in the West Bank. What is happening there, every day, is making it increasingly impossible to achieve a project that must be based on respect for the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to exist,” Macron said yesterday in his address to the UN General Assembly in New York.

“What is the value of our credibility if we continue to stand by passively over Gaza? Some claim peace has been achieved. But this peace has never opened access for humanitarian aid. Should we simply stand and watch this spectacle that should shame us all?” the French president said, referring to Gaza.

Netanyahu’s office called Macron’s statement “absurd,” saying Hamas members have killed Israeli civilians in the West Bank.

Even former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot, one of Netanyahu’s main political rivals, criticized Macron.

He said Israel has been fighting armed attacks in the West Bank for years.

A French diplomat, quoted by The Times of Israel, clarified that Macron had not said Hamas does not operate in the West Bank. He wanted to emphasize that Hamas “does not govern the West Bank.”

The situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the start of the war in Gaza.

Recently, there have been both attacks by Palestinians against Israelis and a rise in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

The Israeli army has been criticized for not intervening sufficiently against these attacks.

Source: ATSH-DPA