"Shameful." On Tuesday, May 13, during an extensive interview on the television channel TF1, Emmanuel Macron used this word to express his views on the attitude of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Never before had the French president been so critical of Netanyahu, who has, since March 2, suspended the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, all while the Israeli military has resumed bombing the Palestinian enclave since March 18, breaking a two-month ceasefire.

"It's terrible. (...) There's no water, there are no medicines. They can no longer evacuate the injured," said the president, responding to the testimony of an emergency doctor who had traveled to the enclave twice. "I say it forcefully, what the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is doing today is unacceptable," continued Macron, who took an offensive stance toward the Israeli government at a time when even United States President Donald Trump seems to be distancing himself from the Israeli prime minister.

"On October 7, there was a terrorist attack of the worst scale against the Israeli people, launched by Hamas (...) We condemned it forcefully," said Macron. "We have recognized Israel's right to defend itself, but as a democracy," he emphasized. In this, he acknowledged that the Israeli government's response, as it announced a "powerful operation" in Gaza on May 5, to achieve a lasting occupation of the enclave, fell completely outside of the bounds of international law. Indeed, Macron, speaking to Netanyahu upon his return from Egypt on April 9, had already declared: "What you are doing is a crime."

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