France warns settlers against 'measures' and discusses calm in Lebanon | News

France will take measures against Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Monday. bank of the west occupy.

“We will not accept these actions. France will not wait any longer. We demand that the Israeli authorities put an end to this behavior,” Colonna told a news conference in Beirut after a two-day visit to Israel, Ramallah and Lebanon. , they will take nationwide measures against some extremist Israeli settlers,” adding “This land is Palestinian and will become part of the Palestinian state.”

This comes after Colonna denounced the violence he committed yesterday and Sunday during a visit to a village near Ramallah Settlers Israelis in the occupied West Bank, which “undermines prospects for a political solution.”

“These are dangerous actions that undermine the prospects for a political solution and weaken the possibility of reaching a political solution,” Colonna said after meeting with Palestinian farmers who have been attacked by settlers in recent weeks. Palestinian Authority“This could fuel new developments and destabilize the West Bank,” he said, noting that the matter was not in Israel's interests.

The European Union is considering the possibility of imposing sanctions on Jewish settlers involved in the violence. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for the need to “stop extremist settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank” during a visit to Israel on Monday.

Last month, US President Joe Biden hinted at a possible ban on “violent Israeli settlers” entering the United States in an article published in the Washington Post.

United Nations data shows that daily settler attacks have doubled since the Israeli occupation forces began invading the Gaza Strip on October 7. This year, attacks by occupying forces in the West Bank, including by settlers, have killed more than 200 Palestinians.

Extremist violence escalates

In this context, observers believe that the Israeli Prime Minister’s remarks Benjamin Netanyahu The latter is that Israel is ready to fight Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank and is prepared to deal with a situation in which it turns the barrel of its guns on Palestinian Authority forces, and this comes against the backdrop of an attempt to Defending settler aggression against the people of the West Bank.

According to media reports, Israelis submitted 250,000 applications to obtain a license to carry weapons after going through the process al aqsa floods National Security Council data showed increased demand for training centers in the use of weapons, with thousands of Israelis receiving weapons for the first time.

Initiated by the Minister of National Security itama ben gvir There was a craze for weapons in Israel, and he called for weapons to be distributed to Israelis. He himself began distributing weapons to the residents of Ashkelon. He also ordered to facilitate the acquisition of weapons licenses by ordinary citizens.

In a report, French newspaper Libération described what is happening in Israel as a “worrying boom in gun purchases,” which it believes is not just a response to natural anxieties but a government driven by Israel's most extremist elements. policy. Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, especially by his so-called “Fire Minister” Itamar Ben Gvir.

Commitment to United Nations resolutions

On the other hand, Colonna visited Beirut today Monday to meet with Lebanese officials and the United Nations Interim Force in South Lebanon (UNIFIL) and sent a message to the Lebanese Hezbollah organization.

Paris hopes to mediate with its partners to reach some arrangement that ensures all parties comply with the provisions of Security Council Resolution 1701, issued at the end of the 2006 war between Hezbollah and the Israeli occupation forces. “We are still far from this goal,” the French foreign minister said.

Colonna, who did not meet with Hezbollah officials during her visit, called on both sides to abide by the decision and begin taking steps to ensure its full implementation.

“Both sides are not enforcing it. Both sides are accepting it. We need some form of de-escalation. We cannot continue like this or we run a significant risk of escalation,” she said.

The UN resolution stipulates that there must be no armed factions between Lebanon's Litani River and the border, and the resolution prohibits any unauthorized weapons between the Litani River and the UN-monitored border between Israel and Lebanon.

According to the decision, the Lebanese army assumes security responsibility for the area on one side of the border, which is prohibited from entry by any other armed forces, including Hezbollah.