French press review 11 July 2014

The French dailies are disturbed by the rising toll of the Israeli-Hamas military escalation in Gaza and the silence of Mali’s controversial President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

Le Figaro quotes Palestinian medical sources as saying that more than 80 Palestinians have been killed and 500 others wounded since the Israeli military launched the airstrikes on Gaza on Tuesday.

According to the right-wing newspaper, it’s difficult to avoid collateral damage after the Israelis carried out 320 attacks and launched 400 tons of explosives into the Palestinian territory in a matter of hours.

For Le Figaro, despite the deluge, the Israeli army wasn’t able to destroy some 300 long-range rockets capable of threatening Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Dimona nuclear station considered as the heart of Israel’s nuclear arsenal.

Despite calls for deescalation from the UN Security Council, the United States, France and Russia, Libération reports that neither side has shown any sign of backing down.

According to the left-leaning paper, the Israeli military has amassed tanks along the border ahead of a possible ground attack, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting pressure from hardliners to reoccupy the Palestinian territory relinquished in 2005.

It quotes analysts as saying that Hamas have a clear aim: to drag Israel into a ground war, hoping to inflict heavy casualties on its troops who would likely come under fire from anti-tank missiles and explosive devices.

The Catholic daily La Croix carried out a vox pop of Gaza residents whose homes have been bombed to the ground in reprisal for rocket attacks. Drones are permanently over our heads, says one parent, adding that government offices, shops and companies have all closed down since the start of the bombardment.

L’Humanité’s correspondent in Gaza dubs this the requiem of drones. He says that 750 raids have been carried out in Gaza over the past three days, pointing out that most of the victims are civilians and that several are women and children.

Libération reports from the Israeli border town of Sderot, where a nearby hill overlooking Gaza has become a favourite picnic venue for Israelis happy to have a live view of the aerial bombardment. For the paper, the Palestinian rockets and the reprisals by the Israeli military are in tune with the radical march taking place in the Middle East. It argues that the Palestinians and the Israelis could not escape with the whole region on fire.

And Libération wonders where Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, may have gone. The left-leaning paper feels bound to ask because IBK has been keeping a low profile since Tuareg rebels expelled government forces from the strategic northern town of Kidal in mid-May. A diplomat who met the Malian leader recently told Libé that he is hit but not at rock bottom.

According to the paper, less than a year after his election with 77.6 per cent of the votes, a growing number of Malians aren’t sure he will be able to finish his five-year term of office as he stands on a slippery slope.

His presidency has been marked by failure to improve the daily lives of Malians, accusations of corruption, especially his controversial ties with Frenco-Gabonese betting tycoon Michel Tomi, who is currently facing investigation in France for money-laundering.

The Intenational Monetary Fund is seeking an explanation from the Malian where he got the 26 million euros of extra-budgetary funds he spent to buy himself an executive jet.

And IBK is facing charges of nepotism at home.

His son Karim presides over the powerful defence commission in the National Assembly where his father-in-law is also a lawmaker. IBK also appointed his brother-in-law and his nephew ministers in his government.

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita mounted his election campaign on the slogan “Mali first”, another diplomat commented to Libération.

Now  it’s “family first”, he added.