The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has proposed widening the international coalition against Islamic State to fight the Palestinian militant group Hamas as he made a visit to Israel.
Macron emphasized that France and Israel shared terrorism as their “common enemy” as he spoke alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
“France is ready for the international coalition against Daesh in which we are taking part in operations in Iraq and Syria to also fight against Hamas,” he told reporters, referring to IS.
Israel is not a member of the anti-IS coalition and Macron’s proposal to widen the coalition’s objectives to include Hamas could allow Western powers greater influence over how the Gaza-based group is tackled.
Some Western powers have concerns about leaving Israel in sole charge of fighting Hamas, since an unconstrained campaign has the potential to turn into a regional conflagration with reverberations in European capitals.
The French president, who met families of French victims at Tel Aviv airport, insisted freeing the hostages without distinction was the first priority, remarks that implicitly suggested that he, in common with other Western leaders, would like Israel to hold off from a large-scale ground operation.
Macron, who cautioned about the risks of a regional conflict, also said the fight against Hamas “must be without mercy but not without rules”.
Netanyahu said the fight was a battle between the “axis of evil” and “the free world” without commenting directly on Macron’s proposal. “This battle is not merely our own … it’s everybody’s battle,” he said. Arab foreign ministries expressed surprise at the Macron proposal, especially since many said they had not been consulted.
Macron said Hamas had killed its 1,400 victims in its 7 October rampage because they were Jewish and “wanted to live in peace”. The dead included 30 French citizens, and it is thought nine French citizens are being held hostage by Hamas.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says Israeli airstrikes on the territory in response to the attacks have killed more than 5,700 people.
Macron’s proposal would probably have to include discussions about what would happen in Gaza after Hamas was defeated, including whether the Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, could become responsible for administering the Gaza Strip.
He also called for a “decisive relaunch” of the Middle East peace process. “The Palestinian cause must be heard with reason,” he said, adding that the stability of the region would only be guaranteed if the Israeli response was “obviously security orientated and implacable in the face of terrorist groups, but also political”.
He said it was necessary “to accept the legitimate right of the Palestinians to have access to a territory and a state in peace and security” alongside Israel.
