Israel’s Gallant rejects French initiative to defuse Lebanon tensions
Al Jazeera
Defence minister says Israel will not participate in trilateral group with US and France because of Paris’s ‘hostile policies’.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has rejected a French initiative aimed at defusing the growing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah as fears of an all-out war between the two sides grow.
Gallant said on Friday that Israel would not take part in a French-proposed trilateral group with the United States and France as he slammed Paris’s position on the war on Gaza.
“As we fight a just war, defending our people, France has adopted hostile policies against Israel,” Gallant said in a statement. “In doing so, France ignores the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli children, women and men. Israel will not be a party to the trilateral framework proposed by France.”
It was unclear whether Gallant, who is the subject of a war crimes investigation by International Criminal Court prosecutors, was speaking for the entire Israeli government or his own office.
Israeli ministers have sometimes released contradictory statements on the same subject, including recently on whether the country accepts the US proposal for an “enduring” ceasefire in Gaza.
