REPLAY - France to send navy ship to support Gaza hospitals, Macron says on Egypt visit
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Transcript
00:00 When we're in the middle of a crisis, we have to consider the region as a whole.
00:05 And I was talking to President Macron about this crisis and about what is going on in Gaza.
00:15 We talked about various aspects and we talked about the efforts to contain the crisis.
00:29 So that we can minimize the repercussions.
00:37 And His Excellency, the President and myself intend to deploy more efforts
00:50 to prevent escalation in the region.
00:54 These efforts are concentrated on the need to contain the problems, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
01:05 And this means that we have to try and reduce the impact of this spiral of violence
01:14 through which we are going now.
01:17 And this will have an impact on the whole region.
01:22 We need to act so that we try and prevent degradation of the conditions in the region
01:31 and bring some pressure to bear so that escalation does not happen in the Gaza Strip.
01:43 We would like to underline the fact that President Macron
01:48 understands very well the idea of having to move populations
01:55 and the reason of why people had to flee.
02:01 And we agree that there's a big danger in this
02:09 and for the regional stability and the solution of two states.
02:18 This is the most obvious one and we've been working on it for 20 years or so.
02:32 And much suffering has happened because of the problems of these two states.
02:42 We agreed that Palestinians can't be made to leave their territory.
02:50 They are on their own territory and the solution has to be within their territory.
03:02 So the objective is to contain the Hamas and the armed bands that are there.
03:13 And we all know that this is, after the experience we've just had, that it requires
03:31 a lot of effort to avoid a total invasion.
03:35 And I would like to underline that this would have a colossal consequence.
03:42 It would entail many victims, particularly civilian victims.
03:49 And so far there are about 6,000 victims, people who died on the civilian side in the Gaza Strip.
04:00 And mainly women and children.
04:04 We have to take all this into consideration.
04:07 And also the fact that civilians are there and when they're faced with military actions,
04:18 they have no recourse.
04:19 And something else that we both think is that a lot has to be done for humanitarian aid
04:29 and supplies to be allowed through so that the two or three million people who are there
04:36 with nothing can be relieved.
04:40 And there's no electricity, there's no fuel, very little food.
04:47 This has a serious impact on the humanitarian situation.
04:52 And we agree that we want to move the humanitarian aid as much as possible.
05:03 Thank you, President, for having planned on sending a hospital ship out to the region
05:11 for the Palestinians.
05:15 Also, we have underlined how important it is to free more hostages and all the people
05:28 detained in the Gaza Strip.
05:29 And this would help towards de-escalation.
05:33 More of these hostages have to be set free that the Hamas holds.
05:43 In Egypt, we want to play a positive role because we understand what's going on.
05:52 We've had many times the experience of the Palestinian difficulties.
06:02 And we know that it requires a deep-down resolution.
06:10 And can we really fight terrorism?
06:16 As I was telling President Macron, the idea of fighting terrorism started from the Palestinian
06:26 camps, and because of the desperate situation, a total lack of hope of being able to have
06:38 a state which is in a normal neighborhood, a normal relationship with its neighbor, Israel.
06:49 This hope has never led to anything.
06:54 We've seen everything that's been happening, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, for example, the colonization
07:04 and its expansion.
07:05 All this has fueled hate and anger.
07:10 We need to stop this situation.
07:13 We want to reactivate the peace process in the region.
07:18 And as regards a solution with two states, we agreed with President Macron that we need
07:27 to all work together towards that objective.
07:30 For the time being, the first thing is to let the aid through.
07:36 And after that, once again, I would like to thank in my own name and in the name of everyone
07:50 around here, President Macron for deploying many efforts and for having come here to try
07:59 and help to contain the crisis.
08:02 We are certainly going to be successful because what we have in mind before everything is
08:08 the fate of the victims.
08:11 And we really would like to strive for positive results.
08:18 And thank you for the efforts you have deployed.
08:21 You went to Israel, you went to Jordan, you went to Ramallah, and now you are in Egypt.
08:27 You've done all this in two days.
08:29 Congratulations.
08:32 We want to tell you that we are grateful for these efforts.
08:36 And we want to thank France.
08:39 In Egypt, France has many friends.
08:41 We are capable of working hand in hand with you.
08:45 And we are doing this to work for peace and for the resolution of this conflict, which
08:53 is bringing about many too many victims, and particularly against civilians.
09:00 We solemnly condemn all these acts which are against civilians.
09:06 They have nothing to do with the hate and anger of the situation we're in today.
09:16 And it's very important to remember this.
09:21 Civilians all around the world are civilians.
09:29 And the floor is yours, Mr. President.
09:32 Thank you very much.
09:38 I am very happy to be here in Cairo once again.
09:42 We've had a strategic dialogue over many years.
09:45 And now we're in a very serious moment.
09:52 As you said, we're going through a very somber time.
09:58 And in moments such as this, we have to do what we can to prevent escalation and renewed
10:10 tension.
10:11 Nothing justifies a terrorist attack such as Hamas committed against Israel.
10:17 France condemned it straight away and recognized that Israel has a right to defend themselves.
10:25 But the rules of international war and the humanitarian rules must be respected.
10:32 Today, the situation is very tense and there's a risk of escalation.
10:39 And we need urgent action.
10:44 The first thing, and I want to thank you very particularly, Mr. President, thank you for
10:51 your efforts and thank you also to Qatar, is to liberate the over 200 hostages that
10:58 Hamas detains.
11:00 Unfortunately, we have nine French or binational hostages, but all hostages must be liberated
11:10 as soon as possible.
11:12 Thank you for the efforts that you have been deploying right since the beginning, since
11:17 the 7th of October.
11:19 It's very important.
11:22 Then I want to thank you because in this context, your leadership and what you've done so far,
11:32 particularly at the Cairo summit last Saturday, is very remarkable.
11:39 You are trying to find a fast solution to this long-standing drama.
11:45 I heard also the alarm of the King of Jordan about double standards because I've just come
11:51 back from Amman.
11:52 And it's quite clear, France has no double standards.
11:57 International law applies to everyone.
12:03 France has always supported universal and humanistic values.
12:10 And there's no hierarchy in this.
12:14 All victims should be avoided and we are sorry for them, we feel for them, whoever they are.
12:27 As President Sisi just said, what we want to build is a peace initiative for peace and
12:37 security and avoid escalation.
12:39 And this goes back to the original moves, such as one of the principles is fighting
12:50 terrorism because what happened on the 7th of October against women, babies, children,
12:57 adults, cannot be justified in any way.
13:02 And also against our French citizens, 31 were killed.
13:08 We must not give in to terrorism.
13:11 And you did a lot in Egypt about terrorism and I know you understand this.
13:19 The first pillar is a reinforced cooperation for information and targeting and to all agree
13:27 that the right response is to cooperate and to draw the conclusions of what happened against
13:35 Daesh, where we've been committed for many years, and take all the measures that we need
13:42 to take for the groups, including those that touch us in Paris.
13:46 And there's a regional and international cooperation.
13:50 We have to also protect what needs protecting and eradicate as much as possible these terrorist
14:00 groups.
14:01 It's part of the long-term effort that we are making internationally and Egypt and
14:09 France both know about this combat about terrorism.
14:15 Second pillar, protection of civilian populations.
14:22 As you reminded us, Mr. President, the Palestinians need protection.
14:29 There's humanitarian support that is on its way.
14:33 I know how much Egypt is doing for the Gaza population.
14:38 I also mentioned it yesterday with the King of Jordan, who is also very committed, and
14:46 there's a hospital which they are supporting so that it stays open.
14:51 And as I was saying to Prime Minister Netanyahu and also to Mahmoud Abbas, the point is that
15:00 France has been doing a lot for access to water to be guaranteed and electricity to
15:08 be restored so that hospitals can reopen.
15:11 This is extremely urgent.
15:16 As also concurred with the United Nations agency that I met this morning, the situation
15:25 is such that we have to move all together.
15:28 France, as you know, is there to support this effort.
15:34 We've increased also our aid by 10 million euros last week for the population of Palestine.
15:43 And we want the corridors to be fully open.
15:50 A French airplane is going to land tomorrow with medical supplies, and others will be
15:59 sent afterwards.
16:00 We want to make sure that people get medicine, drugs, and medical support.
16:12 And as I was saying to my various partners that I met, we've also decided that a ship
16:21 of our national navy will be taking off very soon to go to the coast of Gaza within 48
16:30 hours.
16:31 We are also committing financial means.
16:34 In Gaza and in the West Bank, we want to help protect women and children.
16:47 And thank you for your cooperation in protecting our French citizens who are there.
16:54 There are 54 that we need to protect them.
16:58 And we have about 170 French citizens who are employed in French institutions, and we
17:09 want to protect them.
17:11 Then the third pillar, we had terrorism protection of the populations.
17:19 The third one is political.
17:22 It's the most difficult one, but it is the cause of all the bad feelings in the region
17:28 and the result is what we see today.
17:32 With President Sisi, we were talking a few months ago of the legitimate claim of the
17:42 Palestinians to have a political solution.
17:46 We were just thinking at the time that it wasn't in the limelight anymore, and Egypt
17:56 was still very intent on bringing this to the table.
18:02 And we need to take the moves to reach the solution of two states that can live next
18:11 door and in security.
18:12 It will probably take a lot before we get to that point.
18:18 We'll have to find new ways and innovate, but this political path is necessary because
18:25 it's what will channel the anger that people have, and it won't be channeled through
18:33 violence but through a legal framework, and that's what we have to do.
18:39 We've waited too long about this.
18:41 It's urgent and important and has to be done at the same time as combating terrorism.
18:51 That's why, thank you for what you just said.
18:54 I think we agree that we want to carry with all those who wish so an initiative with three
19:06 pillars, combating terrorism, protecting populations with humanitarian aid, and the political
19:16 progress for a settlement of the Palestinian problem.
19:23 And this must be compatible with Israel's security.
19:28 We understand that at all points that has to also be guaranteed.
19:34 And with these conditions, we might have peace in the region.
19:42 The capability for all the states of the region to accept the presence of Israel and
19:54 its right to be safe and also to recognize the state of Palestine that also should live
20:03 peacefully.
20:05 That is the only way to avoid escalation, and we need to act all together around these
20:12 three pillars.
20:13 Well, thank you, President, once again.
20:16 And with President Sisi, we thought we would reinforce our partnership.
20:24 We have common views for the general strategic point of view, and we're also going to work
20:33 hand in hand.
20:34 And if I may say so, I would very much like us to reinforce this line, this avenue, because
20:43 I think it is fair, respectful, and efficient.
20:48 Thank you, President.