French President Emmanuel Macron met at the Elysee Palace in Paris with the delegation of the Ministerial Committee assigned by the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and discussed with them developments in the war on the Gaza Strip.
Macron renewed his position on the necessity of a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of prisoners, the delivery of aid, and the two-state solution. He also stressed that there is no alternative to permanent peace.
In turn, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that members of the committee assigned by the Arab Islamic Summit discussed with Macron the dangerous developments in Gaza as a result of the continuing Israeli aggression and the need to intensify international efforts aimed at an immediate and complete ceasefire in Gaza.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry added that the members of the ministerial committee stressed the embodiment of the Palestinian state along the 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, said in a tweet on the
He explained that discussions were held with Macron about the necessary means to find a solution to the deteriorating humanitarian situation and a complete ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani affirmed support for all fair international efforts aimed at this.
The French President receives the delegation of the Ministerial Committee assigned by the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit on Gaza#Qatar_Foreign Affairs pic.twitter.com/zs8gVZpiWo
– Qatari Foreign Ministry (@MofaQatar_AR) May 24, 2024
Opposition to the attack on Rafah
In turn, the French presidency indicated in its statement that Macron discussed with the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani and the Saudi Foreign Ministers Faisal bin Farhan, the Egyptian Sameh Shukri and the Jordanian Ayman Safadi “a group of levers that can be activated in order to reopen all crossings” to Gaza. They discussed ways to “strengthen and deepen their cooperation in the field of humanitarian aid.”
The discussions also touched on “the actual implementation of the two-state solution, which is the only way to guarantee peace and security for the State of Israel and meet the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians,” according to the statement.
Macron reiterated his “opposition to the (Israeli) operations in Rafah, and his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all detainees” in the Gaza Strip.
The French President also affirmed his “condemnation in the strongest terms of what was recently announced regarding settlement in the West Bank,” stressing “France’s determination to tighten sanctions in this regard, including at the European level.”
The meeting came as CIA Director William Burns arrived in Paris to hold meetings to revive the process of ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip and the prisoner exchange deal between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel.
Constant movement
The ministerial committee was formed in November 2023, by decision of the extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit hosted by the Saudi capital, Riyadh, at the time, to discuss the Israeli aggression against Gaza.
Since then, the committee has made several tours in the capitals of major countries. With the aim of mobilizing international support to stop the war on Gaza. Paris is her 11th stop.
The Israeli war on Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023, left more than 116,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.
Israel continues its war, ignoring a Security Council resolution demanding that it stop the fighting immediately, and orders from the International Court of Justice demanding that it stop its attack on Rafah, and take immediate measures to prevent acts of “genocide” and “improve the humanitarian situation” in Gaza.