Middle East Monitor / June 21, 2023
France has expressed its “deep concern” about Israel killing Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp this week. Five Palestinians were killed during an Israeli military offensive in the refugee camp, and 91 others were wounded, 23 of them critically. Two of the wounded have since died in hospital, including 15-year-old Sadeel Ghassan Turkman, whose death was announced this morning.
In a statement issued by the spokesperson for the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, the country “offered its condolences to the families of the civilian victims.”
The spokesperson pointed out that Colonna and her German, Jordanian and Egyptian counterparts emphasized on 11 May in Berlin that there is “an urgent need to re-establish a realistic horizon” to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “This should be through a two-state solution with both states living side by side in peace and security. This is the only solution capable of establishing a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Moreover, “France once again reiterates Israel’s obligation to abide by international humanitarian law, use proportionate force and ensure the imperative protection of civilians in the occupied Palestinian Territories.”
Concluding the statement, the spokesperson called on Israel “to keep the commitments it made in Aqaba and Sharm al-Sheikh.”
