Israel shuns Macron's donor conference for Gaza

Israel has said its representatives will not participate at a "humanitarian conference" for Gaza in Paris – organised by French President Emmanuel Macron – taking place this Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to Commissioner general of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini at an international donor conference for civilians in Gaza at the Elysee Presidential Palace, in Paris, on November 9, 2023. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

In response to the boycott, the president's office said that like other governments, Israel nevertheless has "an interest in the humanitarian situation improving in Gaza".

Macron had spoken on Tuesday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the two leaders will talk again once the aid conference is over, the Elysee Palace added.

The French president also spoke with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Tuesday.

Both Egypt and Qatar are playing a key role in attempts to bring more aid into the Gaza Strip.

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This comes as fighting is raging more than a month after the unprecedented 7 October attacks on Israel by the Islamist group Hamas, who killed more than 1,400 people – mostly civilians – and taking more than 240 hostages

According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, the retaliatory Israeli military campaign has killed more than 10,500 people, 40 percent of them children.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that the number of civilians killed in the Gaza Strip shows that there is something "clearly wrong" with Israel's military operations against Hamas.

"There are violations by Hamas when they have human shields. But when one looks at the number of civilians that were killed with the military operations, there is something that is clearly wrong," Guterres said.

#Gaza | In the face of the critical humanitarian situation, France, on President @EmmanuelMacron's initiative, will host an international conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza’s civilians, to be held in Paris on 9 November.

Press Release ➡️ https://t.co/CKDSrNlOxS pic.twitter.com/FkzuStQh7r

— France Diplomacy 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@francediplo_EN) November 6, 2023

'No ceasefire'

Thursday's aid conference has been put together in a hurry on the side-lines of the Paris Peace Forum on 10 and 11 November, an annual event launched by Macron.

Recent weeks have seen growing calls for humanitarian "pauses" or a full ceasefire to allow aid to enter Gaza and keep hopes alive of freeing the hostages.

International concern over the fate of Gaza's civilians, most of whom cannot flee the sealed-off territory, has prompted calls for a ceasefire.

But Israel has remained firm in keeping up its offensive, with a stated objective of destroying Hamas – which has governed Gaza since 2007.

Netanyahu has said there will be no fuel delivered to Gaza and no ceasefire with Hamas unless the hostages are freed.

The United Nations estimates that at least €1 billion in aid will be needed for the populations of Gaza and the West Bank from now until the end of the year.