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France’s Macron Says He Stands in Solidarity with Israel’s Fight Against ‘Terrorism’ 

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog after their talks in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog after their talks in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Reuters)
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France’s Macron Says He Stands in Solidarity with Israel’s Fight Against ‘Terrorism’ 

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog after their talks in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog after their talks in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed on Tuesday not to leave Israel isolated in its fight against militants, but warned against the risks of a regional conflict as he arrived in Israel. 

After meeting with families of French victims at Tel Aviv airport, Macron told President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem that France stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Israel and that the first objective should be to free hostages in Gaza. 

"I want you to be sure that you're not left alone in this war against terrorism," Macron said. "It is our duty to fight against terrorism, without any confusion and without enlarging this conflict." 

Beyond showing solidarity with Israel, Macron wanted to make "proposals that are as operational as possible" to prevent an escalation, to free hostages, and guarantee Israel's security and work towards a two-state solution, presidential advisers said. He will push for a humanitarian truce, they added. 

Macron's visit comes after European Union foreign ministers on Monday struggled to agree on a call for a "humanitarian pause" in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas to allow much more aid to reach civilians. 

Macron was also due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist opposition leaders Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, the Elysee said. 

Mahmoud Abbas's office said Macron would meet with the Palestinian president in Ramallah, West Bank. 

However, Macron's ability to influence events in the region appears limited by what some analysts say is a shift towards a more pro-Israel Anglo-American line, in contrast with the traditionally distinctive and more pro-Arab French Gaullist approach. 

"France's soft power south of the Mediterranean has considerably faded," said Karim Emile Bitar, a Beirut-based foreign policy expert at French think tank IRIS. 

"We're under the impression that nothing distinguishes France from other Western countries now," he said. 

The French government's decision to adopt a blanket ban on pro-Palestinian protests, before it was struck down by courts, is one reason Macron has lost credit in the Arab world, he said. 

French officials contest the idea that Macron's policy is biased. They say Macron has constantly reaffirmed the rights of Palestinians and the position of a two-state solution. "It's a goal France has never veered from," the adviser said. 

Thirty French citizens were killed on Oct. 7 and nine are still missing. One appeared in a video released by Hamas, but the fate of the others remains unknown. 

Macron has vowed that France would "not abandon any of its children" in Gaza and has expressed hope that Qatar's mediation can help free hostages. 

Macron's visit will also have a special resonance at home, where France's large Muslim and Jewish communities are on tenterhooks following the killing of a teacher by an extremist militant that French officials have linked to the events in Gaza. 

The French leader will have to tread a fine line during his tour of the region, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict having often stoked tension back home and France's fractious opposition being ready to pounce on any faux pas.  

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Arab World

Indonesia Urges Respect for International Law After Peacekeepers Killed in Lebanon

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Indonesia Urges Respect for International Law After Peacekeepers Killed in Lebanon

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)

Indonesia urged warring parties in the Middle East "to respect international humanitarian law" after three of its peacekeepers were killed in Lebanon.

"The safety of peacekeeping troops must be the top priority. All parties to the conflict are urged to respect international humanitarian law and ensure the security of peacekeeping personnel," defense ministry spokesman Rico Ricardo Sirait said in a statement.

Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medics were killed in Israeli strikes.

Two peacekeepers were killed on Monday after an explosion from an unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast.

Another Indonesian soldier was killed overnight Sunday into Monday when a projectile exploded near one of the group's positions close to the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr. Another peacekeeper was critically injured at the time.

The death on Sunday was the first among the UN's peacekeeping force in the new war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah which erupted on March 2.

"These are two separate incidents and we are investigating them as two separate incidents," said UNIFIL's spokesperson Kandice Ardiel.

In response to the first death, Indonesia's foreign ministry said on Monday ‌the deceased peacekeeper ‌was one of its citizens and that three others were injured by "indirect artillery fire".

Indonesia condemned ‌the ⁠incident and said ⁠any harm to peacekeepers is unacceptable, while reiterating its condemnation "of Israel's attacks in southern Lebanon."

The country's Foreign Minister Sugiono called on Tuesday in a post on social media website X for an emergency UN Security Council meeting and "for a swift, thorough, and transparent investigation" into the "heinous attack" after speaking with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Israel's military said early on Tuesday it is aware of the reports regarding the two incidents and they are being reviewed thoroughly to determine whether they resulted from Hezbollah or the military's activity.

Guterres said attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.

"We strongly condemn these unacceptable incidents - peacekeepers must never be a target," the UN peacekeeping chief ⁠Jean-Pierre Lacroix told reporters in a briefing on Monday.

PARAMEDICS, JOURNALISTS KILLED

UNIFIL is stationed in southern ‌Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel - an area that is at ‌the heart of clashes between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East when Hezbollah fired rockets ‌at Israel in solidarity with Tehran, two days after Iran was attacked by Israel and the United States. Hezbollah's attack prompted ‌a new Israeli ground and air offensive.

More than 1,240 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities. They include more than 120 children, nearly 80 women and dozens of paramedics.

More than 400 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since March 2, according to two sources familiar with Hezbollah's count. The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings to residents of six villages in Lebanon's western Bekaa region on Monday, in the first such ‌warning for those areas.

The military said the warning was prompted by what it described as militant activity in the area, without providing further details.

Fresh airstrikes hit several towns in southern Lebanon ⁠on Monday and at least one ⁠strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs.

The Israeli military said strikes in Beirut targeted commanders responsible for coordination between Hezbollah and Palestinian armed groups. At least 10 paramedics were killed over the weekend in Israeli strikes, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Three journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on their car on Saturday.

The Israeli military has accused Hezbollah operatives of posing as Lebanese paramedics, and has said that some journalists it killed were part of the group's intelligence or military wing. It has not publicly provided evidence to support those claims.

Lebanon's health ministry has denied that any ambulances or health facilities are used for military purposes.

Lebanon's presidency has said that targeted journalists are "civilians performing a professional duty."

Israel has said it intends to control a buffer zone up to the Litani River, which runs about 30 km (20 miles) north of the Lebanese border with Israel.

Its ground troops have been pushing into Lebanese border towns and demolishing homes in the area.

Israel's military said on Monday that a sixth soldier had been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon. Lebanon's armed forces said that a Lebanese soldier had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. At least nine Lebanese soldiers have been killed by Israel.

Lebanon's army has not been fighting Israeli forces.

Arab World

Israeli Death Penalty Bill for Palestinian Murder Convicts Faces Vote

Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben Gvir shake hands as the Israeli government approve Netanyahu's proposal to reappoint Itamar Ben-Gvir as minister of National Security, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusaelm, March 19, 2025 REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben Gvir shake hands as the Israeli government approve Netanyahu's proposal to reappoint Itamar Ben-Gvir as minister of National Security, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusaelm, March 19, 2025 REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
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Israeli Death Penalty Bill for Palestinian Murder Convicts Faces Vote

Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben Gvir shake hands as the Israeli government approve Netanyahu's proposal to reappoint Itamar Ben-Gvir as minister of National Security, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusaelm, March 19, 2025 REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben Gvir shake hands as the Israeli government approve Netanyahu's proposal to reappoint Itamar Ben-Gvir as minister of National Security, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusaelm, March 19, 2025 REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon

Israel's parliament is expected on Monday to vote on a bill that would make the death penalty a default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military court of killing Israelis, a measure that Israel's European allies say would unfairly target Palestinians under military occupation.

The measure includes provisions requiring sentencing within 90 days with no right to clemency. It was devised by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister who along with other ardent supporters has worn noose-shaped lapel pins in the run-up to the vote, Reuters reported.

The bill's critics say it aims at Palestinians in the West Bank by instructing military courts in the occupied territory to impose the death penalty in cases involving killings of Israelis, except in "special circumstances". Those courts only try Palestinians and have a near-100% conviction rate, rights groups say.

The vote on the bill is the latest action by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition to cause concern among Israel's allies in Europe, who have also been critical of Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Netanyahu's Likud party was expected to vote in favor of the bill. Israeli media reported that he had previously asked for some elements of the measure to be softened to head off an international backlash.

The original bill had mandated the death sentence for non-Israeli citizens in the West Bank convicted of deadly terrorist acts. The revised legislation that is up for a vote on Monday includes the option of life imprisonment.

Even before the vote on its passage, the bill drew criticism from the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy and Britain, who said it had a "de facto discriminatory" character toward Palestinians.

"The adoption of this bill would risk undermining Israel's commitments with regards to democratic principles," the ministers said in a joint statement on Sunday.

A group of United Nations experts has said that the bill includes "vague and overbroad definitions of terrorist", meaning the death penalty could be meted out over "conduct that is not genuinely terrorist" in nature.

Ben-Gvir has argued that the death penalty would deter those considering an attack similar to the Hamas-led assault of October 7, 2023, that killed nearly 1,200 in Israel. Israel's subsequent military assault in Gaza has killed more than 72,000.

Amnesty International, which tracks countries imposing death penalty laws, says there "is no evidence that the death penalty is any more effective in reducing crime than life imprisonment."

Israeli rights groups have said they will challenge the bill at Israel's Supreme Court if it becomes law.

Israel abolished the death penalty for murder in 1954. The only person ever executed in Israel after a civilian trial was Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Nazi Holocaust, in 1962.

Military courts retained the option of imposing a death sentence but have not done so so far.

Some 54 countries around the world permit the death penalty, including a handful of democracies such as the United States and Japan, according to Amnesty International. The group says that the global trend on the death penalty is toward abolition, with 113 countries having outlawed it for all crimes.

The Israeli rights group B'Tselem says that military courts in the West Bank, where Palestinians are tried for alleged crimes, have a 96% conviction rate and have a history of extracting confessions through torture.

Ben-Gvir, known for keeping a portrait in his living room of a Jewish gunman who killed 29 Palestinian worshippers in a West Bank mosque, has overseen an overhaul of Israeli prisons that have led to widespread allegations of torture, starvation, and abuse of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel denies systematic abuse of prisoners in its jails.

Abdallah Al Zughari, the head of the Palestinian Prisoner's Club, said that Palestinians in Israeli jails had already been subject to "slow killing practices" that have led to the deaths of more than 100 prisoners since October 7, 2023.

The death penalty bill, should it become law, would pose a "major threat to the lives of detainees," Zughari said.

Arab World

Syrian Leader Pledges to Work with Germany on Migration, Recovery

Interim Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa smiles during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)
Interim Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa smiles during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)
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Syrian Leader Pledges to Work with Germany on Migration, Recovery

Interim Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa smiles during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)
Interim Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa smiles during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday pledged to work with Germany to enable more Syrians to return home and rebuild their country after its devastating civil war, as he made a historic visit to Berlin.

Europe's top economy is home to the largest Syrian diaspora in the European Union at more than a million, many of whom arrived during the peak of the migrant influx in 2015-2016.

After meeting Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Sharaa said that "we are working with our friends in the German government to establish a 'circular' migration model", AFP reported.

This would "enable Syrians to contribute to the reconstruction of their homeland without giving up the stability and lives they have built here, for those who wish to stay", he said.

Merz, who has made a tougher immigration policy a priority since taking office last year, also said he and Sharaa were "working jointly towards more Syrians being able to return to their homeland".

Sharaa was speaking on his first trip to Germany since ousting his country's longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.

He has managed to build relations with Western governments and made several overseas trips, including to the United States, France and Russia.

As a result, many international sanctions on Syria have been lifted to help the country rebuild after a bloody 14-year civil war.

Earlier, Sharaa told a foreign ministry forum in Berlin that Syria had experienced a "huge amount of destruction" during its long conflict, saying that Syrians "want to catch up with the rest of the world" as Germany did after World War II.

He pointed to investment opportunities in Syria's energy, transport and tourism sectors, describing his homeland as very diverse and with "a great wealth of human resources".

Merz said Germany wanted to "support" reconstruction in Syria as it struggles to rebuild after a long and bloody civil war, adding that a German government delegation would travel to the Middle Eastern country in the next few days.

However, Merz also said that he had stressed to Sharaa in their meeting "that many joint projects in the future will depend on our finding a state governed by the rule of law".