“If we abandon Gaza, if we consider there is a free pass for Israel, even if we do condemn the terrorist attacks, we will kill our credibility,” Macron told a top defence forum in Singapore.
He also called the recognition of a Palestinian state, with some conditions, “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity”.
France is co-hosting with Saudi Arabia an international conference at the UN in New York meant to resurrect the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an outcome the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes.
In its statement Friday, the Israeli foreign ministry said: “Hamas, for its part, has already praised Macron’s statements. Hamas knows why.”
