Nur Asena Erturk
17 December 2023•Update: 18 December 2023
ANKARA
Despite the killing of a Foreign Ministry staffer in southern Gaza a day earlier, France's top diplomat on Sunday reiterated the country’s support for Israel.
"I have come here also to recall the importance of a new humanitarian truce ... and a truce that should lead us to a humanitarian cease-fire," Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told a joint news conference with her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen during a two-day visit to the Middle East.
Previously, she posted on X: "Came to Israel to: - Recall Israel's right to defend itself while strictly respecting humanitarian law and protecting civilian populations – Help avoid a regional fire."
Addressing Cohen in another post, she pointed to "France's attachment to Israel's security in the face of terrorism."
She also stressed the urgency of "a humanitarian truce in Gaza" to release hostages and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.
A French Foreign Ministry employee succumbed to injuries from an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in southern Gaza, said the ministry late Saturday.
The house of a French Consulate colleague where the staffer had taken shelter was bombed on Wednesday evening, the ministry said.
"Our colleague has been working for France since 2002," the ministry said in a statement, offering condolences to the victim's family.
"France condemns the bombardment of a residency building that also caused several other civilian casualties," the statement added.
Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip from the air and land, imposed a siege and mounted a ground offensive in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.
At least 18,800 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have since been killed and 51,000 injured in Israeli attacks, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, while more than 130 hostages are still held by the Palestinian group in Gaza, according to official figures.
