Macron urges Israel to stop ‘killing women and babies’ in Gaza

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza, accusing the country of killing babies, women and the elderly in an interview with the BBC on Friday.

Macron pushed for a cease-fire and urged other leaders to join his call, telling the BBC there was "no justification" for Israel's ongoing bombing.

"De facto, today, civilians are bombed, de facto," he said. "These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed.

"So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop."

Macron's comments were some of the strongest criticism of the way Israel is waging war in Gaza to come from a Western ally of Israel.

Tel Aviv has been bombing the besieged Gaza since 7 October, killing over 11,000 Palestinians, including 4,506 children, 3,027 women, and 678 elderly people. At least 27,400 Palestinians have been wounded by the attacks.

In an interview with the BBC, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Israel to stop killing women and babies and called for a ceasefire. He said it’s impossible to fight terrorism by killing innocent people👇 pic.twitter.com/ILzzsQjq0H

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) November 11, 2023

The US has been pushing for temporary pauses that would allow for wider distribution of badly needed aid to civilians in the besieged territory where conditions are increasingly dire.

However, Israel has so far only agreed to brief daily periods during which civilians are able to flee the area of ground combat in northern Gaza and head south on foot along the territory's main north-south artery.

Since these evacuation windows were first announced a week ago, more than 150,000 civilians have fled the north, according to UN monitors. Tens of thousands more remain in northern Gaza, many sheltering at hospitals and overcrowded UN facilities.

Palestinian civilians and rights advocates have pushed back against Israel's portrayal of the southern evacuation zones as "relatively safe," noting that Israeli bombardment has continued across Gaza, including airstrikes in the south that Israel says target Hamas leaders, but that have also killed women and children.

The US and Israel also have diverging views on what a post-war Gaza should look like.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military Israeli leaders have said this needs to be dictated solely by Israel's security needs.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking to reporters on Friday during a tour of Asia, laid out what he said were fundamental principles for a post-war Gaza, some of which seemed to run counter to Israel's narrow approach.

Blinken said these principles include "no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no use of Gaza as a platform for launching terrorism or other attacks against Israel, no diminution in the territory of Gaza, and a commitment to Palestinian-led governance for Gaza and for the West Bank, and in a unified way".

Fighting around hospitals 

Concern has grown in recent days as fighting through the dense neighbourhoods of Gaza City has come closer to hospitals.

On Saturday, Palestinians said Israeli troops were within view of Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest. Thousands of civilians had been sheltering in the Al Shifa compound in recent weeks, but many fled Friday after several nearby strikes in which one person was killed and several were wounded.

Abdallah Nasser, who lives near Al Shifa, said by phone that the Israeli military was advancing deep into the city from its southern and northern flanks.

"They are facing stiff resistance, but they are advancing," he said.

Mohammed al-Masri, one of thousands still sheltering at the hospital, said that from a higher floor, he could see Israeli troops approaching from the west. "They are here," he said. "They are visible."

Thousands have fled Al Shifa and other hospitals that have come under attack, but physicians said it's impossible for everyone to get out.

"We cannot evacuate ourselves and [leave] these people inside," a Doctors Without Borders surgeon at Shifa, Mohammed Obeid, was quoted as saying by the organisation.

"As a doctor, I swear to help the people who need help."

The organisation said other doctors reported that some staff had fled to save themselves and their families, and urged all hospitals be protected.

Casualties rise

More than 11,078 Palestinians, including 4,506 children and 3,027 women, have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

About 2,700 people have been reported missing and are thought to be possibly trapped or dead under the rubble.

Gaza's interior ministry said six people were killed early on Saturday in a strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp that hit a house. The camp is located in the southern evacuation zone.