French President Emmanuel Macron calls for halt to arms shipments to Israel amid global plea for restraint
French President Emmanual Macron has called for a halt to arms shipments to Israel during a radio interview.
Macron said on radio station France Inter that finding a “political solution” to Israel’s war on Gaza was a priority and an arms embargo should be considered.
The president said his position would be that “arms used to fight in Gaza are halted. France doesn’t ship any.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said a political solution to the confict would be an arms embargo. (AP)
Paris has already stopped arms deliveries to Israel, Macron added.
“I think we are not being heard,” the president said of global calls for a cease-fire.
“And I consider it a mistake, also for Israel’s security.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly responded to Macron’s calls for an arms embargo and described it as a “disgrace”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly hit back and called Macron’s message a “disgrace”. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool)
“Israel will win with or without their support,” Netanyahu said, according to his office.
Global leaders and countries have called on Israel for restraint amid the country’s military operations in the Middle East.
Superpowers including the US have maintained Israel has the right to defend itself, however President Joe Biden made a plea for restraint ahead of more strikes in Lebanon.
Damaged buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
9News political editor Charles Croucher said Israel has not responded to voices around the world urging it to ease its assaults on Gaza and the Middle East.
“There’s nothing that has been shown by Benjamin Netanyahu and by Israel at the moment that these calls are being heeded,” he said.
“Things are getting more aggressive, larger strikes further and deeper into Lebanon in particular. And that only increases the chances of a wider, broader regional conflict.”
