France’s Foreign Ministry has condemned an Israeli airstrike in Gaza that led to the death of one of its diplomatic staff in Rafah, Russia Today reported on Sunday.
The man, whose name has not been revealed, was taking shelter 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.
UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, have called for a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, and France added its voice.https://t.co/q5MIC58kIT pic.twitter.com/shMcQVBzB4
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 17, 2023
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.
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.
AL-JAZEERA: Israeli forces opened heavy fire on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza during a press conference by the Ministry of Health.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 17, 2023
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 18,800 Palestinians have been killed and more than 51,000 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and 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.
(RT, PC)
