The French president was set to call for the “preservation of the civilian population” in Hamas-ruled Gaza and “halting the colonization” of Judea and Samaria.

He called for Hamas to be added to the targets of an international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group.

By JNS and EJP

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Israel on Tuesday to express “full solidarity” with the Jewish state amid its ongoing war against the Hamas terror group.

The French leader is pressing for the “preservation of the civilian population” in the Gaza Strip, “halting the colonization” of Judea and Samaria and the “resumption of a genuine peace process” to create a Palestinian state, according to his office.

“The only way to be useful is to one, show solidarity with Israel; two, make commitments against terrorist groups very clear; and three, to open up a political perspective,” added Macron.

He met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and other top officials.

In a press conference alongside Netanyahu, President  Macron called for Hamas to be added to the targets of an international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group. He gave no detail on how the US-led coalition of dozens of countries, of which Israel is not a member, could be involved.

Macron stressed that France and Israel shared terrorism as their “common enemy”. “France is ready for the international coalition against Daesh in which we are taking part for operations in Iraq and Syria to also fight against Hamas,” he told reporters, referring to the Islamic State group.

He also said there had to be a “decisive relaunch” of the Middle East peace process, following talks with leaders in Israel, whose army is building up to a

He later travelled to Ramallah for meeting with P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas.

On Monday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte traveled to Jerusalem as part of a day-long visit that included meetings with the family of a dual Dutch-Israeli citizen held captive by Hamas, as well as with Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas.

The Netherlands’ NOS public broadcaster cited the Dutch premier as saying he had “a good, but tough conversation” with his “friend” Netanyahu.

“I reiterated how terrible Hamas’s attack on Israel is and that they have the right to defend themselves. But Israel has a strong military position, so I also said: Be aware, we are very concerned about access to humanitarian aid in Gaza,” Rutte told NOS.

Earlier on Monday, Netanyahu hosted Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Prime Minister’s Office.

“I always say that the best thing about standing with Israel is standing in Israel. And you’re doing that. I appreciate the solidarity of you, your government, the people of Greece, at this darkest hour,” said Netanyahu.

“It’s a battle against civilization. It’s civilization against barbarism. We’re on the side of civilization. We have to unite, all together, against Hamas, which is ISIS,” he added.

On Saturday night, as Israel’s war against Hamas entered its third week, Netanyahu met separately in Tel Aviv with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

“This is a test, a test of civilization, and we will win. And we expect all the countries that lined up to fight ISIS to line up and fight Hamas, because Hamas is the new ISIS,” Netanyahu told Meloni.

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak all visited the Jewish state.