DOHA, Qatar: France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has called for an immediate humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas war. The Gaza Strip is currently experiencing a high number of casualties and the population is running out of supplies.
During a visit to Qatar, Colonna told reporters that an immediate, durable, and observed humanitarian truce is crucial and should lead to a ceasefire. France is working towards having a resolution on a truce adopted by the UN Security Council.
These comments come after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called for a humanitarian pause. Blinken is on his second tour of the region since the attack by Hamas on October 7.
Blinken discussed the pause during his talks in Israel on Friday, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the proposal, demanding the release of over 240 Israeli and foreign hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attacks.
Following the Hamas attack, Israel has been bombing the Gaza Strip relentlessly, causing the death of over 1,400 people, mostly civilians. City blocks have been destroyed as a result of this bombardment.
The health ministry of Gaza, which has been under Hamas control since 2007, reports that over 9,480 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli strikes and the intensifying ground campaign.