NEW-YORK: French President Emmanuel Macron has challenged US President Donald Trump’s claim of securing peace in Gaza, arguing that the situation on the ground does not match the diplomatic success being portrayed by Washington.
Speaking at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, September 22, Macron said no humanitarian corridor had been reopened in Gaza despite Trump’s declaration that his peace initiative had brought an end to the war.
The address was Macron’s final appearance at the United Nations before he leaves office next year.
Trump had addressed the same gathering earlier in the day, presenting his Gaza peace plan as a major diplomatic achievement and saying it had brought peace and stability to the region.
Macron, however, questioned the credibility of celebrating peace while humanitarian access to Gaza remains restricted. Some boast of a supposed peace. But that peace has not reopened humanitarian access for a single second, Macron said.
He also questioned whether the international community could continue to remain inactive over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Macron also turned his attention to the occupied West Bank, warning that continuing violence and other violations against Palestinians were undermining the possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state.
Look at what is happening in the West Bank, where every day violations are committed,” he said, while noting that Hamas has not operated in the West Bank.
According to Macron, developments in the territory were making it increasingly difficult to achieve a political settlement based on what he described as the legitimate right of Palestinians to exist.
France has taken a tougher position on Israeli settler violence over the past year, including imposing some national sanctions and beginning a process aimed at restricting products originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The White House rejected Macron’s criticism, defending Trump’s role in ending the conflict and implementing his Gaza peace initiative.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump had ended the war between Israel and Hamas, secured the release of all living hostages, facilitated the return of the bodies of deceased hostages to their families and was leading implementation of the 20-Point Plan for Peace in Gaza.
She argued that while other leaders had continued to discuss the conflict, Trump had taken direct action to address it.
The competing statements highlight a continuing disagreement among Western governments over how Trump’s Gaza initiative should be assessed and whether the situation on the ground represents a lasting peace.
Beyond Gaza, Macron used his final UN address to defend multilateral diplomacy and the role of the United Nations.
He warned against what he described as a global return to a law of the jungle saying countries faced a choice between an international system governed by power and coercion, and one based on established international norms.
Macron urged countries to continue supporting the United Nations and warned against what he called a new order of impunity.
We cannot accept the new order of impunity that some would like to build, he said.
He concluded his final UN speech with the words: Long Live the United Nations!
Macron is expected to leave office next May, ahead of France’s next presidential election.
