The office of the Israeli President has claimed that Issac Herzog received a phone call from Emmanuel Macron in which the French President backtracked on his comments on Friday suggesting the Jewish state was intentionally killing “women and babies” in Gaza.
In an interview with the BBC on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron called upon Jerusalem to enact a “ceasefire” as it attempts to root out the Islamist Hamas terrorists behind the October 7th attacks that left over 1,200 people dead and over 240 people taken hostage from Israel.
While stopping short of outright accusing Israel of war crimes, the French president told the British broadcaster: “De facto – today, civilians are bombed – de facto. These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop.”
According to Israeli President Issac Herzog, Macron called him over the weekend to “clarify” his comments, saying that he did not mean to suggest that Israel was intentionally targeting civilians or that it does not have a right to defend itself against terrorism.
“President Macron also emphasized that he unequivocally supports Israel’s right and duty to self-defence, and expressed his support for Israel’s war against Hamas,” a statement Herzog’s office said per The Times of Israel.
“President Macron explained that his comments during the interview were made in reference to the humanitarian situation, which remains an important issue for him and many countries,” the statement continued. Macron “reiterated to President Herzog his commitment to demanding the immediate release of the hostages, and noted he was working to help on this important issue.”
The comments from the French leader sparked a diplomatic row between Paris and Jerusalem, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuking Macron for shifting the blame from Hamas, which uses the civilian population of the Gaza Strip as human shields.
“The responsibility for any harm to civilians lies with Hamas – ISIS and not with Israel,” Netanyahu said.
“While Israel does everything in its power to avoid harming civilians and urges them to leave the battle areas, Hamas – ISIS is doing all it can to prevent them from moving to safe areas and uses them as human shields,” he continued.
The Israeli PM went on to warn that the “crimes being committed today by Hamas – ISIS in Gaza will be committed tomorrow in Paris, New York and all over the world” and therefore the “leaders of the world should be condemning Hamas – ISIS, not Israel”.
During a press conference on Saturday, Netanyahu said that Macron’s comments were not only factually incorrect but also represented a “moral error”.
Macron’s call for a ceasefire, which would essentially be a victory for Hamas, also drew pushback from Berlin, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz refusing to call upon Israel to give up the fight against the Islamist terrorists.
“I freely admit that I do not think that calls for an immediate ceasefire or a long pause – which would amount to almost the same thing – are fair, because that would ultimately mean that Israel is leaving Hamas the possibility of recovering and obtaining new missiles,” Scholz said.
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Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.