President of France on ongoing war in Gaza
(CBS, KYMA) - President Emmanuel Macron of France appeared on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan Sunday where he discussed the war in Gaza and political efforts that should be made to stop Hamas.
According to Brennan, France is going to be the first western United Nations (U.N.) Security Council member to recognize Palestinian statehood, prompting her to ask President Macron what conditions are there for this, to which he said:
"I think it was a necessity first to decide this recognition, and I will announce it on the 22nd of September at the United Nations, precisely because we are at the very moment where if we want peace and security for all in the region, we have to preserve the condition of a political perspective for everybody. So we will announce the recognition, but which is the beginning of a political process and a peace and security plan for everybody. So right after this recognition, we have a first phase, which is, I would say, the emergency phase, ceasefire, release of all hostages..and third, restoring the humanitarian roads and the stabilization of Gaza. We have a second package, which is the day after we will revert on that how to organize Gaza in terms of governance, security and reconstruction. And third package, the perspective of the two states. But recognizing the Palestinian state today is the only way to provide a political solution to a situation which has to stop."
Brennan then asked if France is not making the release of the hostages a condition before recognition, and Macron responded saying, "So this is a clear condition before we will open an embassy. This is the first series of conditions and requirements...we will put in the peace process."
During the interview, Brennan and Macron talked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being very opposed to the idea of a Palestinian state for a "very, very long time," and says if it was to happen, "it would be a launch-pad for terrorism," leading her to ask Macron why the prime minister is wrong.
"I want to say that the seventh of October was a total trauma for everybody in our country here, because we had so many French people being killed during the seventh of October terrorist attack launched by Hamas. And it was, for us, one of the biggest terrorist attack against our own fellow citizen. But we did share, and we do share, the pain and the suffer of Israeli people and so many families. And for me, the top priority remains the release of hostages. And I met very regularly families of hostages, and I have to say that what they live is unbearable. And I had the opportunity meet with...Guy's mother and so many of them, and what they describe is absolutely unbearable. But, I consider that if we want precisely to build a sustainable peace for Israel itself and for Israeli people, a political process and the recognition of a Palestinian state, if the state recognizes the right of Israel to live and defend itself, is demilitarized, has security forces with the vetting process by Israel, with, obviously, a proper governance and reform governance and is precisely we have a series of reform which are part of the process."
Emmanuel Macron, President of France
Brennan said, later in the interview, France's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood put Macron at "direct odds with the Trump administration," who says Macron's recognition announcement, along with other members of the U.N., kills the diplomacy the administration had underway.
Examples, according to Brennan, include the administration working to get the tax money from Israel to hand back over to the Palestinian Authority, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he drew the West Bank division to his recognition, prompting her to ask Macron why the administration is blaming Macron for that, with Macron saying:
"I think we all work very hard in order to improve the situation of people on the ground. And let me tell you that France, a lot of French people, French doctors, French citizen, French members of NGOs, are working very hard with our administration as well to help Palestinian people. And during the past years, we worked very [hard] and financed a lot of actions as well being led by UNRWA. Second, I think my objective is precisely to provide another perspective. We are closely coordinated with the U.S. administration when we speak about the ceasefire and the release of hostages. We were always in close coordination with Secretary of State, or key President Trump's advisors, in order to work with Qatar, Egypt, and Israel on the release of hostages, of ceasefire. But your administration is focusing on the day after. And what we propose is a full-fledged plan, where we have first, the emergency package. So let's deliver release of all hostages, ceasefire, and humanitarian access. The day we have that, we start the day after. And I think we are very convergent with the work which is being done by your administration. What we want is a de facto governance in Gaza, with clearly a sort of transitional administration, including the Palestinian Authority, excluding, clearly, Hamas."
To watch Brennan's full interview with Macron, click here.
