Palestinian Territories – Situation of our nationals (November 14, 2023)

For five weeks now, France has continued its efforts to ensure that all our compatriots, our staff and their families could leave Gaza if they wished to do so. To date, 112 French nationals, members of our staff and their families have exited Gaza via the Rafah border crossing.

This marks the end of the first phase of our evacuation operations, which have enabled nearly all of our compatriots to leave Gaza if they wished to do so.

The team at the Consulate General in Jerusalem has been in constant touch with our nationals since the start of the crisis. They were subsequently looked after by the French Embassy and our Consulate General in Cairo and by teams from the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Crisis and Support Center. They are now safely back in France.

France thanks the Egyptian authorities for all their help in evacuating our nationals, our staff and their families from the Gaza Strip. As Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna said during her visit to Doha, we are working with our partners to ensure the safe exit of all our nationals, our staff and their families. We are also continuing our efforts, together with the United Nations and our international partners, to step up our humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza.

Q&A

Le Figaro mentioned a letter, let me quote from their article: “Several French ambassadors in the Middle East and certain countries in the Maghreb – about a dozen, according to our information – collectively drafted and signed a letter regretting Emmanuel Macron’s pro-Israel stance in the war between the Jewish State and Hamas.” Can you confirm the existence of this letter, and what is the response from the Quai d’Orsay?

The Quai d’Orsay does not comment on confidential diplomatic correspondence. Every international situation elicits numerous contributions from our diplomatic posts, whose daily job consists of contributing to diplomatic discussions.

Our elected politicians, the President, parliamentarians, the cabinet led by our Prime Minister, and within that cabinet, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, are responsible for determining France’s foreign policy.

Diplomacy is not a matter of individual opinions expressed in the press. Diplomats have a duty of confidentiality and a duty of loyalty, as do all civil servants.