New Delhi: French President Emmanuel Macron took a sharp swipe at US President Donald Trump’s Gaza diplomacy during his final address to the United Nations
General Assembly on Tuesday, questioning claims that peace had been achieved in the war-torn enclave.
Macron said that despite Trump’s declaration that the Gaza war had ended, humanitarian access had not been restored. He described the situation as a ‘spectacle that should shame us all’.
His remarks came just hours after Trump used the same UN platform to present his Gaza peace plan as a diplomatic achievement. Trump said that the war had ended weeks after his earlier UN address and that the deal had saved thousands of lives.
Macron questions Trump’s Gaza peace claim
Macron said the international community could not simply celebrate a proclaimed peace while humanitarian assistance remained blocked.
“A year ago, here in this very hall, about a dozen states had recognised Palestine,” Macron said, before questioning the credibility of countries that remained inactive over Gaza. “Some boast of a supposed peace. But that peace has not reopened humanitarian access for a single second,” he said.
Macron’s comments directly challenged Trump’s presentation of his Gaza initiative as a major diplomatic breakthrough.
Macron warns over West Bank violence
The French president also turned his attention to the occupied West Bank, where he said continuing violations were making the creation of a viable Palestinian state increasingly difficult. “Look at what is happening in the West Bank, where every day violations are committed. In whose name? Hamas has never operated in the West Bank,” Macron said.
France has faced criticism from some politicians and activists over its approach to Gaza since recognising a Palestinian state last year. Macron said Paris had nevertheless strengthened its response to settler violence, including sanctions and a process to restrict products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Macron, who will leave office next year, used his final UN speech to defend multilateralism and warn against a return to a world governed solely by power and coercion. He ended his address with a call to stand alongside the United Nations.
