Two months after his last visit to the region, which took him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Egypt, French President Emmanuel Macron returned on Thursday to the region but this time as part of the traditional visits he makes on the Christmas holiday to French troops deployed overseas.
Macron was scheduled to visit Lebanon to inspect the troops of the French contingent operating within the UNIFIL force in south Lebanon. However, he changed his plan, and decided to visit a French air base in northern Jordan and spend the Christmas vacation with the French soldiers.
Sources at the Elysée did not clearly explain why the presidency abandoned the South Lebanon option. But the ongoing clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army since October, and also Lebanon’s failure to elect a new President, could be two of the main reasons behind this decision.
Ahead of his visit to Jordan, the French President said Wednesday that fighting terrorism did not mean “to flatten Gaza,” referring to Israel's response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants on October 7.
“We cannot let the idea take root that an efficient fight against terrorism implies flattening Gaza or attacking civilian populations indiscriminately,” Macron told the France 5 broadcaster.
He called on Israel “to stop this response because it is not appropriate, because all lives are worth the same and we defend them". Macron said France called for the protection of civilians and “a truce leading to a humanitarian ceasefire".
Macron and King Abdullah II are set to discuss developments of the war in Gaza which has so far killed at least 20,000 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
France has already called for a ceasefire in the fighting. Also, the two men will tackle the ongoing developments in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, and the response to the Houthi attacks. The US Secretary of Defense recently announced a new coalition to confront and respond to Houthi threats.
