French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement that ‘Hamas has never operated in the West Bank” came two days after a French-Israeli citizen was killed in Samaria by a Palestinian affiliated with Hamas.
By Yossi Lempkowicz
During his speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron claimed that Hamas is not active in the West Bank.
“Look at what is happening in the West Bank, where, every day, violations are committed in the name of what? Hamas has never operated in the West Bank,” he falsely declared.
While Hamas has never governed the West Bank, unlike Gaza, it has always maintained a terrorist presence and remained active there. The Israeli army regularly announces the dismantling of clandestine cells it says are affiliated with Hamas. The Palestinian Authority also regularly conducts operations against members of the organization responsible for the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel.
In his speech, Macron railed against the humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged countries to recommit to international laws and the UN system.
“What is our credibility worth if we remain inactive on Gaza? Some claim that peace has been achieved, but this has not opened up humanitarian deliveries. It is a spectacle that shames us all,” Macron said.
Macron last year initiated at the U.N. General Assembly a push by Western nations to recognise a Palestinian state. France recently joined Britain in imposing sanctions on products from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced Macron’s blunder. He promised a response aimed at France and all those who denounce his government’s actions as contrary to international law. On the eve of his speech at the United Nations, scheduled for Thursday he warned: “You hear the terrible lies being spread there and elsewhere in the world. I will fight against these lies; I will fight to reveal the truth about our soldiers and our country. Yes, and there will also be surprises.”
The Israeli Prime Ministe’s office on Wednesday issued a stinging rebuke to French President Emmanuel Macron’s UN speech denouncing settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Macron’s remarks that “Hamas has never struck in the West Bank” was a “grotesque absurdity”, said a statement from the Israeli Prime Ministe’s office on Wednesday.
“Hamas terrorists carry out attacks against Jews almost every day. They have murdered countless Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria,” it said, using the Israeli names for the West Bank.
Netanyahu’s office pointed to the shooting death on Sunday, on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, of an Israeli-French citizen, Nethanel Shukrun, a father of six, in a terrorist attack by a Palestinian affiliaterd with Hamas.
A French diplomatic source later claimed that Emmanuel Macron’s statements on Hamas in Judea and Samaria were “misinterpreted” during translation.
According to the source, this statement was reportedly translated as “Hamas has never been particularly active,” whereas Emmanuel Macron allegedly meant to say that the terrorist movement “has never governed the West Bank.”
‘’I wish I could have told my government, “No, that’s not ridiculous,” “No, there’s a mistake,” and so on. But I don’t think the President of France makes mistakes in French. So he chose his words carefully,’’ responded Israel’s ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, in an interview on France Inter channel.
‘’It is impossible today to seriously claim that the Hamas was not deployed in the West Bank. It’s impossible,’’ he added.
Hamas, which won the 2006 Palestinian elections, has carried out a series of suicide bombings that killed dozens of Israelis, including children. It is responsible for the massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023 when more than 1200 Israelis where killed in a single day.
The terrorist group, whose charter calls for the liberation of all Palestine ‘’from the river to the sea,’’ will once again be participating in the upcoming Palestinian elections sceduled for November.