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Israel rebuked French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday after he criticised Israeli actions in the West Bank in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
In his last speech as president addressing the UN’s signature annual diplomatic gathering, Macron deplored the humanitarian situation in Gaza, from which Hamas led the deadly 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, as well as actions by Israel in the West Bank.
Macron said that “Hamas has never struck in the West Bank,” a territory seized by Israel in 1967 that is home to the Palestinian Authority.
“The grotesque absurdity of Emmanuel Macron’s statement is staggering,” said a statement by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to deliver an address to the world body on Thursday.
“Hamas terrorists carry out attacks against Jews almost every day. They have murdered countless Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria,” it said, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.
Netanyahu’s office pointed to the shooting death on Sunday, on the eve of Judaism’s holiest day of Yom Kippur, of an Israeli settler in the West Bank.
Israel said that the victim, father of six Netanel Shukrun, also had French citizenship.
The Israeli military said it arrested the Palestinian gunman at a hospital and troops later raided his village. A minister in Netanyahu’s government called for his execution under a new law.
Israeli settlers frequently attack and steal from West Bank Palestinians. The United Nations said there were about six settler-related violent incidents against Palestinians or their property daily through mid-2026 in the territory.
Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, also denounced Macron’s remarks.
“Hard to imagine a more out of touch with reality speech than Macron at UN,” Huckabee wrote on X on Wednesday.
“Hamas is an evil scourge and they have killed innocent American citizens.”
In his Tuesday speech, Macron railed against the humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged countries to recommit to international laws and the UN system.
“What is our credibility worth if we remain inactive on Gaza? Some claim that peace has been achieved, but this has not opened up humanitarian deliveries. It is a spectacle that shames us all,” Macron said.
“Look at what is happening in West Bank, where there are violations every day. In the name of what? Hamas has never struck in the West Bank. This every day makes it more impossible to achieve respect for the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to exist.”
The Palestinian Authority has semi-autonomous civil rule in major urban areas of the West Bank, with Israel controlling most of the territory.
Hamas took over control of Gaza in 2007, two years after Israel pulled out and dismantled settlements.
Netanyahu has poor relations with Macron who led a push by Western nations at last year’s UN General Assembly to recognise a Palestinian state.
France recently joined Britain in imposing sanctions on products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, again angering the Israeli government.
Additional sources • AFP