France slams Israel over killing of diplomatic worker in Gaza

The Foreign Ministry said the man succumbed to injuries sustained as a result of an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday

France’s Foreign Ministry has condemned an Israeli airstrike in Gaza that led to the death of one of its diplomatic staff in Rafah. The man, whose name has not been revealed, was taking cover at a colleague’s house when the building came under attack on Wednesday.

Following her arrival on an official visit to Israel on Sunday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna called for an “immediate and durable” truce. The diplomat also expressed concern over the rising civilian death toll in Gaza amid the ongoing Israeli military operation in the Palestinian enclave.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said that “one of its agents” had “died as a result of his injuries.” The Israeli airstrike on Wednesday left approximately ten more people dead, French officials added.

“France condemns this bombing of a residential building which caused the death of many other civilians,” the document read. Paris also urged the Israeli authorities to shed light on the circumstances of the attack as soon as possible.

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Speaking during a meeting with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen on Sunday in Tel Aviv, Colonna lamented the fact that “too many civilians are being killed” in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military, which launched its campaign in response to a deadly Hamas incursion in early October and the abduction of hundreds of hostages.

According to Gaza health officials, the hostilities have already left nearly 19,000 Palestinians dead, with many more injured. Most of the victims are said to be civilians, including large numbers of children.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the French Foreign Ministry issued a joint statement with Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK that raised the alarm over a recent uptick in the number of violent “attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.” The document emphasized the illegal nature of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, adding that radical elements “are terrorizing Palestinian communities” there.

The Western nations also accused Israeli authorities of creating an “environment of near complete impunity” by failing to prosecute Jewish settlers. Such developments threaten the “prospects for a lasting peace” in the region, the statement concluded.

Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron called on Israel to “more precisely define” its end game in Gaza. He went on to predict that the stated goal of eliminating Hamas could see the hostilities drag on for an entire decade.