France will not support forced displacement of Gazans: Envoy

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - France will not support the forced displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by Israel, Nicolas de Riviere, the permanent representative of France to the UN, said Tuesday.

"France is opposed to the forced displacement of populations. That's very clear-cut...We will not support the forced displacement of people,” de Riviere told reporters.

"It's more or less obvious that the Gaza Strip is inhabited by Palestinians. Our goal is for Palestinians to be able to continue living there in safety and security and under good conditions. That should be the priority.”

His remarks came after Israeli officials called for the "voluntary evacuation" of Palestinians from Gaza and urged various countries to take in Palestinians from the enclave.

De Riviere said shutting people out of Gaza or recolonizing Gaza are "harebrained ideas," adding it is essential to put an end to the military operation and not to target civilians.

"Palestinians should be able to live in peace in their homes, and the bombing of civilians in the Gaza Strip should end. Hospitals, schools have been destroyed...We want that to end," he stressed.

He said the Palestinian group Hamas "is using the civilian population as human shields, is hiding in schools," adding: "That is true. However, whenever there's a doubt, you shouldn't bomb schools."

Underlining the need to protect the civilian population, de Riviere said there are 2 million civilians in Gaza, not 2 million terrorists.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 22,185 Palestinians have since been killed and 57,035 others injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.​​​​​​​

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicines.