French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has said that he sees prospects for ending Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Donald Trump was elected US president.
Barrot was in Israel, where he met with Foreign Minister Israel Katz in Jerusalem after meeting with hostage families in Tel Aviv.
The visit was his second to the Jewish state in a month.
Barrot last visited Israel on Oct. 7 to attend commemoration services for the victims of Hamas’s massacre in Israel on the same date last year.
During the meeting with the relatives of two French-Israelis still held by the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza—Ohad Yahalomi and Ofer Calderon—the minister “expressed once again the emotion and solidarity of the nation,” adding that “France will continue to do everything in its power to free its loved ones, and all the hostages still held in Gaza.”
Speaking to journalists in Jerusalem, alongside Israel Katz, the outgoing foreign minister who is due to replace Yoav Gallant as defence minister, Barrot expressed hope that President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the US election would increase the likelihood of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon being brought to an end.
He cited Trump’s “wish to see the end of the Middle East’s endless wars.”
“I believe a window has opened for putting an end to the tragedy in which Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region have been immersed since 7 October.”
The French foreign minister wrote on X, shortly before meeting Katz, that diplomatic solutions are possible to free the hostages, protect civilians and ensure the safety of all. “It is time to end the tragedy that began on October 7,” he added.
Trump has promised to bring “peace” to the Middle East, but not specified how. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was among the first of the world’s leaders to call Trump with congratulations on Wednesday, has called him the “best friend that Israel has ever had in the White House”.
Barrot said he hoped a “diplomatic solution” would emerge “in the coming weeks.”
“Force alone will not be enough to guarantee Israel’s security,” he said, adding that “military success could not be a substitute for a political perspective.”
“It is time to move toward a deal that would allow for the liberation of all hostages, a ceasefire and the mass entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and to prepare for the day after.”
Barrot said “Israel has the right to defend itself” but pointed to “colonization,” “humanitarian aid restrictions” and “the continuation of air strikes in north Gaza” as risk factors for Israel’s security.
Barrot is expected to speak with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and his prime minister, Muhammad Mustafa.
Israeli Officials Lay Out Lebanon Ceasefire Demands To Visiting French Minister
Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer laid out to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot today the security guarantees Israel demands in a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to a French statement.
On Gaza, Barrot relayed his concerns over Israeli legislation to curtail UNRWA activities, says his office. He also called for a “credible and responsible” postwar plan that includes the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.
The two sides agreed on reforms need in the Palestinian Authority, but Barrot warned about security risks inherent in undermining the PA economically, according to France.
There was also agreement, say the French, on the need to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and continuing to destabilize the region.
He stresses that “the Palestinian question will not disappear, regardless of the American administration in charge.”
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