France 'ready to contribute to food distribution security'

France "stands ready, as does Europe, to contribute to the security of food distributions" in the war-torn Palestinian territory of Gaza, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot affirmed on Saturday.

Such an initiative would aim to "address the issue that concerns Israeli authorities, namely the diversion of this humanitarian aid by armed groups,' Barrot continued on LCI, referring without naming the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

The French minister did not specify what the French and European assistance to Gaza aid distribution would consist of. But he expressed his 'anger' by mentioning "the 500 people [...] who have lost their lives in food distributions" in Gaza in recent weeks. Israel partially eased a total blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory in early March at the end of May, which led to severe shortages of food, medicine, and other essential goods.

An aid distribution mechanism led by a "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" (GHF), supported by Israel and the United States, has been set up, but its operations have led to chaotic and deadly scenes. According to the Hamas government's Ministry of Health for Gaza, nearly 550 people have been killed and more than 4,000 injured in huge queues forming to reach various humanitarian aid distribution centers since the GHF began operations there in late May.

The civil defense of the Palestinian territory, ravaged by over 20 months of war, announced on Friday the death of 80 people in strikes or shootings by the Israeli army, including 10 killed once again while waiting for humanitarian aid. The Israeli army queried by AFP said it was examining these claims, but it categorically denied that its soldiers had opened fire on people waiting for aid.

After the cease-fire with Iran took effect on Tuesday, Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir, Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, announced that the army was 'refocusing on Gaza, to bring the hostages home and dismantle the Hamas regime.' The war was triggered by the unprecedented attack of this Palestinian Islamist movement on southern Israel on Oct.7, 2023.

The attack resulted in the death of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, the majority of whom were civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data, and 49 people kidnapped that day are still hostages in Gaza, of whom 27 have been declared dead by the Israeli army. Over 56,412 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli military's retaliatory campaign on the Gaza Strip, according to data from the Hamas government's Ministry of Health, deemed reliable by the U.N.