French foreign minister “firmly” condemned on Tuesday Israel’s new plan to fully occupy Gaza Strip.
“It is a very firm condemnation, because it goes against international law,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke to the broadcaster RTL.
Barrot noted that Israel’s recently announced plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip and take control of all humanitarian aid is “not acceptable.”
“The urgent priority is, of course, a ceasefire, but also the massive and unhindered access of humanitarian aid, because the Gaza Strip—the Palestinians living there—are lacking in a dramatic way,” he added.
Barrot reaffirmed that they are working to defend the international humanitarian law alongside other countries.
“Even when there is war, we respect a certain number of rules: we do not target civilians, we do not attack humanitarian workers, and we ensure that humanitarian aid can always reach the people,” he said, reiterating the need to respect the “integrity” of laws of war.
Barrot further highlighted the risk of famine in Gaza, calling for an access to humanitarian aid.
“France calls on Israel to implement a ceasefire, to allow humanitarian aid to reach the population within the enclave of Gaza,” he added.
Barrot also confirmed that France could recognize the State of Palestine once the other countries do the same and commitments are made according to Anadolu.
The Arab world lies in one of the most important global strategic locations, controlling most of the major commercial transportation routes. It is rich in natural agricultural and industrial resources and has always been a prime target for Western colonial powers, which periodically launched military campaigns to occupy and control our world, starting from the heart of the Arab world, Palestine, known as the Holy Land, and expanding to the Levant in the north — Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan— then to Egypt, and it’s rich in its fertile Nile River, and finally to the Arabian Peninsula in the south.
When we look back in history, we find these military colonial campaigns against the Arab world—especially Palestine—were numerous, even dating back to before Christ, such as the campaign of Alexander the Great (336 BC–323 BC) and the Roman colonial rule (63 BC–324 AD). Moving on to the ages after Christ, we recall, for example, the eight Crusades over nearly two centuries (1096–1291), followed by Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign (1799–1801), and finally the Talmudic Zionist campaign initiated by Theodor Herzl in 1896, which continues into the present day.
These post-Christ colonial campaigns were primarily charged with religious fervor and can be termed as religious wars. In fact, Pope Urban II in 1095 described them as a “holy war” to liberate the holy city of Jerusalem from the “brutal” Muslim Arabs. As for Napoleon Bonaparte, who was defeated at the walls of Acca, he promised the Jews he would help them reach the “Promised Land,” holy Jerusalem, if they aided him in his colonial campaign.
Finally, at the present time, Britain, France and Germany came first, followed by all the US presidents who started supporting Zionist colonialism financially, politically and militarily to “recover” the “Promised Land” promised by a “racist” god biased towards the Jews to “rebuild” the alleged Temple of Solomon in the city of Jerusalem and to build Greater Israel.
All these colonial campaigns attempted to divide the Arab world into small, weak states by perpetrating genocides against their many Arab peoples. They destroyed and burned cities, tortured and killed civilians, and raped women, girls, and even boys, just as Zionist Israel is doing now in Palestine. However, past genocides cannot be compared to the brutality and brutality of the Zionist genocide against the Arabs of Palestine, from 1947 to the present day, due to the power of modern, highly destructive and lethal weapons.
The Arab nation was able to defeat all past colonial campaigns because of the people’s sense of belonging to their homeland and their unity, undivided by distance or borders, and led by brave, honorable, national leaders who sought the best for the entire nation.
The western colonialists noticed this inherent sense of belonging within the nation and decided to target it. After World War II, Britain, then the Great Power, agreed with France in the Sykes-Picot Agreement, to break the pact it signed with Sharif Hussein bin Ali. This agreement divided the Middle East into small states, appointing rulers loyal first to Britain and then to the current American administrations.
How can the men in the Arab world sit back while the carnage is unfolding in #GazaGenocide ? Have you all forgotten who you are? Children of Azzam, Mukhtar and the Ouled Darradj? Here are the words from a brother in Khan Younis less than an hour ago. “The Israelis have killed 490… pic.twitter.com/ZhECfHaic3
— Yvonne “Newcastle ” Ridley (@yvonneridley) April 6, 2025
To further weaken these Arab states, the Western Axis powers divided the economies and financial systems of these states, rendering them alien and compete with each other. They also sowed division and religious, regional, and ethnic animosity among the Arab nation, allowing Zionist colonialism to penetrate the Arab world, beginning with Palestine.
Unfortunately, most Arab leaders failed to attempt to restore Arab unity and unify the people, economy, and currency, as the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser attempted to. Instead, what was spread was division, hatred, competition, animosity, and even war among Arab peoples, as has happened in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, and what is currently happening in Arab African countries such as Libya, Algeria, Morocco, and Sudan.
Worst of all is the spread of the philosophy of distancing oneself from the problems of any neighboring Arab country. Some leaders consider that the wars that take place in a neighboring Arab country do not concern them as long as these wars do not affect their country, even in the short term. We see this now clearly in what is happening in Palestine, especially the extermination of the Arabs of Gaza.
The heads of neighboring Arab countries are trying to convince their people that their national interest requires non-interference and to distance themselves to avoid destructive wars and to leave the Palestinians to resist the Israeli occupation alone.
Israel, launching pad
It would be better for these leaders to warn and inform their people that Israel is a launching pad for a broad western colonial campaign aimed firstly at destroying the Arab homeland and colonizing it by planting Zionist terrorism in the form of the Israeli entity which aims to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates, from the far south of the Nile – on the Sudan borders – to the far north of the Euphrates – to the Turkish borders – to build what is called Greater Israel in the Promised Land promised by a racist land broker god to a criminal, savage, genocidal people.
Secondly, for this Zionist entity to grow from Great Israel to Greater Israel it is going to move to the south to include all of the Arabian Peninsula – to recover Khaybar and Yathrib and their dependencies – then move west to the northern coast of the African continent, extending to Morocco and control the entire Arab world, monopolizing the most important strategic locations internationally, and global maritime trade routes between East and West, including the Strait of Hormuz on the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea, passing through Bab al-Mandab Strait to the Red Sea, then via the Suez Canal to the ports of occupied Palestine, and from there to the Western world via the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. And across the Giberalter Strait to the Americas – the ultimate goal of the Greater Israel Project.
All we have to do is listen to and understand the Israeli (and American) statements, both public and broadcast, clearly and vociferously, that the goal of Israel and the West is to exterminate all Arabs, just as they did to the Native Americans—they call them Red Indians— to build Greater Israel and control the Arab world and its natural resources. The evidence of these goals is clear, such as the destruction of Iraq and the theft of its wealth, and the establishment of American military bases along the Arab states on the western coast of the Persian Gulf.
We also witnessed how the Western colonial powers destroyed, divided, and weakened Libya and stole its wealth, then spread enmity between Algeria and Morocco, waged a war of extermination in Sudan, and then divided Syria and Lebanon, weakened Jordan, and effectively occupied it with American, British, and French military bases. All that remains is Egypt, which is subjected to economic occupation through conditional World Bank debt and by allowing other countries to purchase Egyptian land, real estate, and companies, which will ultimately lead to Egypt’s economic collapse.
Many people from all over the world, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or language, are taking to the streets in massive, daily and weekly marches and demonstrations in solidarity with the Arabs of Palestine, against Israeli brutality, against Western countries, and against their own governments, which fund and supports Israel politically and militarily.
They wonder why the Arab peoples don’t take to the streets in solidarity with the Arabs of Palestine, demanding that their Arab governments personally intervene to protect and assist the Palestinians, instead of these governments begging for assistance from the powerless United Nations. Have the Arabs lost their humanity and solidarity with their Arab brothers in Palestine, or are they simply cowards and selfish and unable to do anything?
Dr. Elias Akleh is a Palestinian writer who contributed this article the Arabic Al Rai Al Youm website. This is a translated piece that was slightly edited at the end for the sake of brevity.
Palestinian women are placed at the center of life, according to Imane Maarifi, a French nurse of Moroccan descent who spoke to Anadolu about her volunteer work in Gaza.
“Palestinians have a deep respect for women. Women are really at the center of life, and you can immediately tell that they have been raised in this respect,” Maarifi said.
She described an unexpected sense of equality, noting that she mostly ate meals prepared by men, with women prioritized in serving, and the men being served afterward, if any food was left.
“I imagined, perhaps, a country with a more dominant patriarchy, but to my great surprise, that wasn’t the case,” she said.
Maarifi also observed that female workers were provided a room with a bathroom, while their male colleagues were assigned to a bare room.
“This was my first time in Palestine, and as a humanitarian worker, I was already received with great respect,” she added.
Maarifi highlighted that women in Gaza struggle to access basic materials, such as sanitary pads, while mothers always prioritize their children in all circumstances.
“What I saw among women there were mothers who couldn’t bathe every day because they preferred to use the water to bathe their children,” she said.
She also pointed to the “dire” food situation in Gaza, where constant rice consumption has led to severe digestive problems.
Maarifi noted that when mothers had access to fiber-based foods and dietary aids, they prioritized giving them to their children first.
“Of course, a mother always has that instinct, but in Gaza, under genocide, it becomes even stronger. They completely lose their sense of personal priorities — their only priority is their children,” she added.
She further emphasized that women are celebrated every day in Gaza.
“In Gaza, March 8 happens every day. Women are truly honored every single day. Maybe in the West, we should learn from them,” Maarifi concluded.
Even before Trump’s coming of age, which is a long way away, or more accurately so, coming to power, one often wondered about the status of the European Union (EU) in the world of changing circumstances and the existential meaning of its presence on the world power map among the increasing differences among its member states.
Although and frankly, differences always existed within the Union, the Russian invasion of Ukraine made those differences more acute, sharper and penchant materializing between those Europeans fearing being next on the Russian menu, those who want an assertive position against Moscow, those reluctant either way, and those who are out rightly pro-Russia.
Evidently, having unity among the 27 European countries which are not necessarily different in their political structures, yet having necessarily different strategic interests end up with infighting, recriminations and threats.
As well what makes things near-impossible, is that the EU does not have a mechanism to expel a fellow-member from the Union, so one is always beleiving that there is hope that an obtrusive member of the Union would walk out voluntarily in the manner made by the British Brexit.
Now it is more complicated. Not only the EU is having to deal with a possible Russian threat, but also a looming trade war with the US that is compounded with the distinct possibility that America may be withdrawing its protection umbrella from Europe.
Of course, this legitimately raises the question about the future of NATO; a question which was raised before especially after the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. This ultimately means a new form of a military alliance will be required for the EU.
Ideally, one would have thought a smaller EU entity, leaner and meaner, with incorporation of Britain in it, would the best option, while the rest of Europe, from its center to its eastern side, hitched by accords with Russia and the USA.
This would be far better instead of the current large European crippled Levathian with Britain running like a headless chicken proposing to be the bridge between the USA and EU, a link both sides of the Atlantic believe it’s too far a gap for any meaningful effect.
Having said all that, there is a window of opportunity now with the new government in Germany, showing more courageous initiatives in wanting to see a reset of the Atlantic relationship, which falls well with President Macron of France, the other core member of the EU which has the idea of creating a single European army to protect the EU and its interests.
When it comes to transnational trade, the absurdity of the war of tariffs will hurt all including the American economy, though European companies whose main market is in the USA will go and invest in America, but those US companies whose main market is Europe, will invest in the EU.
Essentially, the seismic shift in relations across the Atlantic is set to commence with most probably less profits but more fairness.
Dr Khairi Janbek is a Jordanian writer based in Paris, France
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for “respect” for Palestinians, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s reported plans for the mass deportation of Gazans.
Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Macron said: “You cannot say to 2 million people, ‘okay, now guess what? You will move’,” emphasizing that this is not a matter of “real estate” but a “political operation.”
Macron also said any “efficient” response to rebuilding Gaza “doesn’t mean automatically that you should lack respect to people or countries,” highlighting the wishes of Palestinians to remain in their homelands and the unwillingness of both Jordan and Egypt to accept large numbers of Gazan refugees according to Anadolu.
France has voiced support for “Israel’s right to defend itself” following Oct. 7, 2023, while Macron criticize Israeli operations and policies on multiple occasions.
“I always reiterated my disagreement with (Israeli) Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Macron said. “I don’t believe, once again, that such a massive operation targeting sometimes civilian people is the right answer.”
France suspended arms exports to the Israel Defense Forces in October 2024, calling on other nations to follow suit.
On Feb. 4, Trump announced at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US intended to seize Gaza and relocate its Palestinian population to neighboring countries, including Egypt and Jordan.
Trump’s plan has faced widespread rejection from Palestinians, Arabs, and the international community while receiving significant political support within Israel across various factions.
The Israeli attacks have killed over 48,200 Palestinians and devastated Gaza since the war on the enclave began on Oct. 7, 2023.
CrossFireArabia
” Ridley (@yvonneridley) 
