Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin denounced the ongoing “silence” on Israel’s genocide war on Gaza, describing Gaza as “undoubtedly the greatest historic scandal, which no one talks about in this country [France] anymore”.
In a radio interview with France Inter, Thursday, de Villepin expressed his anger over the French political and media response to Israel’s war on Gaza when asked to comment on the appointment of Michel Barnier as prime minister and the political and economic challenges facing France.
When the journalist brought up the war and cited the death toll as provided by “Hamas’ health ministry”, de Villepin quickly interrupted her.
“I hear that all the time… It is not only the Ministry of Health of Hamas that says that there are 40,000 dead; there are probably many more. Let’s not give the impression that this is a truncated figure,” he said.
“No, it is, unfortunately, an everyday reality. In Gaza, bodies are in pieces; hearts are in pieces; souls are in pieces; heads are in pieces,” he commented.
De Villepin said it seems there is “no prospect” of reconstruction on the horizon. “Israel is creating the conditions for a reoccupation [of Gaza],” he said.
“Whether it is in the southern line or in the line that cuts [the enclave] in the middle, the creation of a perimeter around, Israel has taken back possession of Gaza. Gaza is completely besieged.”
De Villepin warned that “at a time when the West Bank itself is breaking down, as we can see in the north and in the south, we are in front of a real pressure cooker”.
The former centre-right prime minister went on to describe Gaza as “undoubtedly the greatest historic scandal, which no one talks about in this country anymore”.
“It is silence, a lead weight; the media doesn’t discuss it… I have to turn to Google to find news that gives me the number of deaths in Gaza. It is a real scandal in terms of democracy,” he said.
“And all this in the name of what? War. It is war; that’s how it is. However, it is not quite a war like the others. These are civilian populations who are dying. We are in Absurdia and France is stepping aside.”
When asked what France, the European Union or the United States should do, de Villepin pointed out that the West has “levers in terms of armaments, in the economic field”. He said: “We continue to accept trading with territories where Israeli colonisation is active… but we refuse to [use these levers] under absolutely unheard-of arguments.”
“Israel must be allowed to wage its war to the end?” he questioned. “But to what end? Yoav Gallant, Israel’s minister of defence, says that Hamas has been eradicated in Gaza, so what is the end?”
De Villepin, who has long been a vocal critic of Israel’s policy in Palestine, stressed that “Israel cannot be safe until there is recognition of a Palestinian state alongside it that shares responsibility for security in this region,” according to the Quds News Network.
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