French Foreign Ministry Says Worker Killed by Israeli Attack in Rafah

Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2023. (Reuters)
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2023. (Reuters)
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French Foreign Ministry Says Worker Killed by Israeli Attack in Rafah

Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2023. (Reuters)
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2023. (Reuters)

The French foreign ministry said one of its workers had died as a result of wounds sustained during an Israeli attack in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

The man was seeking refuge in the house of a colleague from the French consulate alongside two other co-workers and a number of their family members, the ministry statement issued late on Saturday said.

"The house was hit by an Israeli air strike on Wednesday evening, which seriously hurt our agent and killed about 10 others," it said, adding he had later died of his wounds, Reuters reported.

The statement said France condemned the bombing of a residential building.

"We demand that the Israeli authorities shed full light on the circumstances of this bombing, as soon as possible," it said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the French foreign ministry declined to provide further details on the name, nationality and age of the worker.

"We're waiting for clarification (from Israel)," said French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna shortly after meeting her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen in Tel Aviv on Sunday.

She called for an "immediate truce" between Hamas and Israel to allow for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Israel says it seeks to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, according to international law, though critics and even its closest ally, the US, say it needs to do more.



King Charles Set to Arrive in Australia for Landmark Tour

King Charles III (Reuters)
King Charles III (Reuters)
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King Charles Set to Arrive in Australia for Landmark Tour

King Charles III (Reuters)
King Charles III (Reuters)

King Charles III arrives in Australia on Friday, beginning the most strenuous foreign trip since his cancer diagnosis and a tour showcasing busy barbecues, famed landmarks and pressing climate dangers.
Charles becomes the first reigning monarch to set foot Down Under since 2011, when thronging crowds flocked to catch a white-gloved wave from his mother Queen Elizabeth II, AFP said.
The 75-year-old king will spend about 20 hours in the air before his flight lands in Sydney, where a montage of 16 previous Australian visits will beam across the Opera House sails.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other high-ranking officials will receive him at the airport, and a ceremonial king's flag will be hoisted above many government buildings.
After six days in Australia -- a schedule pared back to better manage the king's health -- Charles and Queen Camilla will jet across the Pacific Ocean on a rare trip to island nation Samoa.
Charles is expected to use the Australian leg to highlight the dangers of climate change, a message sure to resonate in a country scarred by bushfires and floods.
He will later meet scientists at a world-leading cancer research laboratory, another keenly watched stop given his diagnosis in February.
The visit will undoubtedly bring pomp, ceremony and plenty of media coverage.
There will be extravagant mass gatherings, including an event in front of the Opera House and a bustling community barbecue.
But aside from a clutch of staunch monarchists and ardent republicans, public sentiment on the eve of the sovereign's arrival largely sat somewhere between indifferent and unaware.
"I'd forgotten they were even coming," said 73-year-old Sydneysider Trevor Reeves, summing up the mood in Australia's largest city.
The lucky country
Australia is a land of many happy memories for Charles.
He first visited as a gawky 17-year-old in 1966, when he was shipped away to the secluded alpine Timbertop school in regional Victoria.
"While I was here I had the Pommy bits bashed off me," he would later remark, describing it as "by far the best part" of his education.
Bachelor Charles was famously ambushed by a bikini-clad model on a later jaunt to Western Australia, who pecked him on the cheek in an instantly iconic photo of the young prince.
He returned with wife Diana in 1983, drawing mobs of adoring fans eager to see the "people's princess" at landmarks like the Sydney Opera House.
In 1994, a would-be gunman fired two blanks at Charles as he gave a speech on Sydney harbor -- a mock assassination staged as a human rights protest.
With six days in Australia and five more in Samoa, it will be Charles's longest overseas tour since starting treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.
He made a brief trip to France this year for D-Day commemorations.
Prime Minister Albanese, a lifelong republican, has made no secret of his desire to one day sever ties with the monarchy.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth, his government replaced the monarch's visage on the country's $5 note with an Indigenous motif.
A recent poll showed about a third of Australians would like to ditch the monarchy, a third would keep it and a third are ambivalent.
For now, at least, the question of a republic is a political non-starter.
Charles's looming presence has so far done little to stoke republican sentiment.
He carefully tiptoed around the question on the eve of his arrival, reportedly saying it was ultimately a "matter for the Australian public to decide".