The French Prime Minister, François Bayrou, at the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament, in Paris, on May 27, 2025. (Credit: Stephane De Sakutin/AFP)
François Bayrou refused the request from the group of Green Party deputies to organize a debate in Parliament on the situation in the Gaza Strip, devastated by war and experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis.
"Given the current parliamentary schedule, marked by an exceptionally dense legislative sequence, and despite the attention paid to your request, it will not be possible at this stage to schedule such a debate within the weeks reserved for the executive," the prime minister wrote in a letter dated May 22 to the leader of the Green Party deputies, Cyrielle Chatelain. The Green and Social Group had requested the organization of a debate on this subject following Article 50-1 of the Constitution, through which the government makes a statement leading to a discussion, followed by a vote or not.
The prime minister reiterated in his letter that the situation for civilians in Gaza "is unbearable" and recalled that France "calls with the greatest firmness for an immediate, permanent and verifiable cease-fire, as well as the unconditional release of all hostages." He reaffirmed Paris' opposition "to any project of sustained occupation of Gaza, as well as any forced population displacement, contrary to international law and dangerous for the stability of the entire region." He assured that France "remains fully mobilized, both diplomatically and on the humanitarian front, to support the delivery of aid" to Gaza and "promote the return to a political process" towards a "two-state solution," "the only viable political outcome" which will be the subject of a conference in New York in June organized by Paris and Riyadh.