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In Gaza, 'the need to catch up to an enormous lack' of food imposed by the Israelis
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France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
France halts intake of Gazans over student's antisemitic posts
The move comes after officials said the female student from Gaza would have to leave France after the Sciences Po university in the northern city of Lille revoked her accreditation over the online posts. "No evacuation of any kind will take place until we have drawn conclusions from this investigation," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told Franceinfo radio. All Gazans who have entered France will undergo a second screening, he added. The foreign ministry told AFP it could not disclose how many people would be affected by the policy change, citing confidentiality concerns. France has helped more than 500 people leave Gaza since the latest war between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel started, including wounded children, journalists, students and artists. The conflict, triggered by Hamas's murderous October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, has seen Israel retaliate with a deadly military campaign and an aid blockade in Gaza that some rights groups have qualified as "genocide". "France cannot suspend its policy of welcoming evacuated Gazans: our common humanity is at stake," said Arthur Delaporte, spokesman for the opposition Socialist Party, on X. Lille's general prosecutor said Thursday that a judicial probe has been opened against the student for allegedly trying to "justify terrorism" and "justify a crime against humanity". Barrot confirmed she must leave France, noting that talks were ongoing to determine her destination. 'Just two minutes' The 25-year-old woman was due to start studying at France's prestigious Sciences Po in the fall as part of a government scholarship programme for students from Gaza. A French diplomatic source said the student arrived in France on July 11 on a scholarship based on "academic excellence" and after "security checks". But now she will have to leave the country after pro-Israel accounts on X resurfaced posts she shared in September, including an image of Adolf Hitler and words appearing to call for the death of Jews. The account attributed to the student has been taken offline, after French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau demanded it be closed down. AFP has not been able to independently confirm the social media posts attributed to the young woman. Sciences Po however confirmed on Wednesday that the young woman had shared the content. It said they were in "direct contradiction" with the university's values, without elaborating. "The security checks carried out by the relevant state services, as well as by the Israeli authorities, did not detect these antisemitic and unacceptable comments," Barrot said. A spokesman for France's far-right National Rally criticised the government's vetting process, saying "it only took two minutes of browsing" to find the posts. "And yet, France welcomed this individual," said spokesman Julien Odoul on Europe 1 radio. AFP was not immediately able to reach the student for comment. The news agency is not identifying her at this stage of the investigation. In a July interview on broadcaster RMC, before her posts came to light, the 25-year-old had expressed her excitement about studying in France. "I am finally in a safe space," she said.
France 24
11 hours ago
- France 24
US envoy visits Gaza sites as UN says hundreds of aid-seekers killed
The visit by Steve Witkoff came as a report from global advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) also accused Israeli forces of presiding over "regular bloodbaths" close to the US-backed aid points. The UN's rights office in the Palestinian territories said at least 1,373 people had been killed seeking aid in Gaza since May 27 -- 105 of them in the last two days of July. "Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military," the UN office said, breaking down the death toll into 859 killed near the US-backed food sites and 514 along routes used by UN and aid agency convoys. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, posted on X that he and Witkoff had visited Gaza "to learn the truth" about the private aid sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is supported by the United States. "We received briefings from IDF (the Israeli military) and spoke to folks on the ground. GHF delivers more than one million meals a day, an incredible feat!" Huckabee said. "Hamas hates GHF because it gets food to people without it being looted by Hamas." The foundation, on its own X account, posted that it had been a "privilege and honor" to host Witkoff and Huckabee as the group delivered its 100-millionth meal in Gaza, fulfilling Trump's "call to lead with strength, compassion and action". Gaza's civil defence agency said 11 people were killed by Israeli fire and air strikes on Friday, including two who were waiting near an aid distribution site run by GHF. GHF largely sidelined the longstanding UN-led humanitarian system just as Israel was beginning to ease a more than two-month aid blockade that exacerbated existing shortages of food and other essentials. 'Beyond imagination' In its report on the GHF centres on Friday, Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of illegally using starvation as a weapon of war. "Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families," said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. "US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths." Responding to the report, the military said GHF worked independently, but that Israeli soldiers operated "in proximity to the new distribution areas in order to enable the orderly delivery of food". It accused Hamas of trying to prevent food distribution and said that it was conducting a review of the reported deaths, adding it worked to "minimise, as much as possible, any friction between the civilian population" and its forces. After arriving in Israel on Thursday, Witkoff held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to resolve the almost 22-month-old war, feed desperate civilians and free the remaining hostages held by Palestinian militants. Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and free the captives, but is under international pressure to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and threatened many more with famine. Following his discussions with Witkoff, Netanyahu met Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of Germany, another staunch Israeli ally, who nonetheless delivered a blunt message. "The humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination," Wadephul told reporters after the meeting, urging the government "to provide humanitarian and medical aid to prevent mass starvation from becoming a reality". "I have the impression that this has been understood today," he added. Hostage video On Thursday, the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad released a video showing German-Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski, 21, watching recent news footage of the crisis in Gaza and pleading with the Israeli government to secure his release. "Even the strongest person has a breaking point," his family said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel. "Rom is an example of all the hostages. They must all be brought home now." On Friday, Wadephul also met relatives of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. According to the German foreign office, among the 49 hostages still held, a "single-digit" number are German-Israeli dual nationals "Germany continues to do everything in our power to achieve the release of the hostages," Wadephul said, expressing outrage at the video release. This "horrible" footage reveals "once again the utter depravity of the kidnappers", he added. The Hamas-led October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. Of the 251 people taken hostage, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military. The retaliatory Israeli offensive has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties. © 2025 AFP
France 24
13 hours ago
- France 24
France to halt Gaza arrivals pending probe into student's antisemitic posts
The move comes after officials said the female student from Gaza will have to leave France after the Sciences Po university in the northern city of Lille revoked her accreditation over the online posts. "No evacuation of any kind will take place until we have drawn conclusions from this investigation," Jean-Noel Barrot told Franceinfo radio. All Gazans who have entered France will undergo a second screening, he added. France has helped more than 500 people leave Gaza since the latest war between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel started, including wounded children, journalists, students and artists. The conflict, triggered by Hamas's murderous October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, has seen Israel retaliate with a deadly military campaign and an aid blockade in Gaza that some rights groups have qualified as "genocide". Lille's chief prosecutor told AFP on Thursday a probe had been opened against the student for allegedly trying to "justify terrorism" and "justify a crime against humanity". Screenshots of posts the student allegedly shared in September -- published by pro-Israel accounts on X -- include an image of Adolf Hitler and words appearing to call for the death of Jews. The account attributed to the student has been taken offline, after French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau demanded it be closed down. A French diplomatic source said the student arrived in France on July 11 on a scholarship based on "academic excellence" and after "security checks". AFP was not immediately able to reach the student for comment. The news agency is not identifying her at this stage of the investigation. "She must leave the country", the foreign minister confirmed, adding that discussions were ongoing to determine her destination.
