Israel accuses Macron of destabilizing the Middle East

Emmanuel Macron "undermines the stability" of the Middle East and his actions are "dangerous," Israel accused after the French president warned against any Israeli attempt to annex territories in response to Paris’ consideration of recognizing Palestine.

"Macron is trying to intervene from the outside in a conflict to which he is not a party, in a way completely disconnected from the reality on the ground after Oct. 7, 2023," the date of the Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, wrote Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in a message on X posted Tuesday night.

"Macron is undermining the region’s stability with his actions," Saar added, saying "his actions are dangerous [and] will bring neither peace nor security."

"No offensive, attempt at annexation, or population transfer will stop the momentum we have created with the Crown Prince [of Saudi Arabia and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman] and to which many partners have already joined," the French president had said earlier on X.

In this message, Macron recalled that he will co-chair, on September 22 with the Saudi prince, a conference at the U.N. headquarters in New York on the "two-state solution," during which Paris is to formalize, together with several other countries such as Australia, Belgium or Canada, its recognition of the State of Palestine.

According to several Israeli media outlets, the Israeli government has recently debated the possibility of annexing territories in the West Bank (a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967) in response to this initiative.

Israel considers that recognizing a Palestinian state amounts to giving "a reward to Hamas" after the massacres of Oct. 7, 2023 committed by the Palestinian Islamist movement, while Macron displays the goal of "bringing together the broadest international support for the two-state solution, the only one able to meet the legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians."

The Oct. 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.

The Israeli retaliatory campaign has killed at least 63,633 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, which is under the authority of Hamas. The ministry's figures are considered reliable by the U.N. but do not specify the number of fighters killed.