New York (TDI): French President Emmanuel Macron challenged US President Donald Trump’s portrayal of his Gaza initiative as a diplomatic breakthrough, saying the situation on the ground did not reflect the progress claimed by Washington.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Macron questioned how a peace process could be described as successful when humanitarian access to Gaza remained restricted.
“Some boast of a supposed peace,” Macron said, arguing that the announcement had yet to translate into the reopening of humanitarian corridors in the enclave.
His remarks came hours after Trump used the same UNGA podium to present his Gaza peace plan as a major diplomatic achievement.
Macron said the international community could not remain inactive while conditions in Gaza continued to deteriorate. He also defended the significance of international recognition of a Palestinian state, rejecting arguments that recognition amounted only to a symbolic gesture disconnected from realities on the ground.
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The White House rejected Macron’s criticism, defending Trump’s role in the Gaza process. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump had ended the war between Israel and Hamas, secured the release of living hostages and facilitated the return of deceased hostages to their families.
She added that Trump was now overseeing implementation of the administration’s 20-Point Plan for Peace in Gaza, arguing that his administration had taken direct action on an issue that previous diplomatic efforts had failed to resolve.
Macron also focused on developments in the occupied West Bank, criticizing Israeli settler violence and measures that he said were undermining prospects for a viable Palestinian state.
He pointed out that Hamas had not operated in the West Bank while warning that continued settlement activity and violence were making a future political settlement increasingly difficult.
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France has taken a tougher position on settler violence, including imposing national sanctions and beginning a process concerning products originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Relations between Paris and Tel Aviv have become increasingly strained over the past year as France has intensified its criticism of Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories.
