Advertisement
France joins China to condemn Israel’s Rafah attack plans in sign the European power is veering from US on key issues
- After talks between Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron, Beijing and Paris issue statement denouncing planned Israeli offensive against southern Gaza city
- French view of the Middle East conflict increasingly appears to align more closely with Chinese stance than Washington’s approach
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
67
France joined China on Monday to condemn Israel’s plans to launch an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, adding to signs that the European power has distanced itself from US positions on key global issues.
Advertisement
The two countries issued a joint statement following talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris, where they reaffirmed the “absolute necessity” to protect civilians in Gaza amid heightened conflict.
“The two heads of state oppose Israel’s attack on Rafah, which would lead to a larger-scale humanitarian disaster, and they also oppose the forcible relocation of Palestinian civilians,” said the statement, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
While Washington has said it would not support a military operation in Rafah, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier suggested the opposition was conditional, stemming from a lack of a plan to ensure civilians were not harmed.
“We cannot, will not support a major military operation in Rafah absent an effective plan to make sure that civilians are not harmed and no, we’ve not seen such a plan,” he said after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week.
Israel on Tuesday took control of a vital Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after rounds of overnight strikes on the city, even as Hamas agreed to a ceasefire proposal. Israel has said that the terms were “far from Israel’s essential demands”.
Advertisement
Advertisement