President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France will increase aid for Palestinians from 20 million euros to 100 million euros in 2023.
Macron opened a Gaza aid conference with an appeal for Israel to protect civilians, saying that “all lives have equal worth” and that fighting terrorism “can never be carried out without rules.”
“Civilians must be protected. It’s absolutely essential. It is non-negotiable,” Macron said.
He reiterated calls for a humanitarian pause in Israel’s operations against Hamas. He said that by attacking Israel on Oct. 7, Hamas “shouldered the responsibility for exposing Palestinians to terrible consequences” and he again defended Israel’s right to defend itself.
But he added that “fighting terrorism can never be carried out without rules. Israel knows that. The trap of terrorism is for all of us the same: giving in to violence and renouncing our values.”
“All lives have equal worth and there are no double standards for those of us with universal and humanist values,” he said.
