Macron calls for expansion of the International Coalition to fight Hamas

In a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, French President Emmanuel Macron called for the expansion of the International Coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Following his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Macron said that the states fighting ISIS should also fight Hamas.

According to Marcon, Hamas’s goal is the destruction of the State of Israel, adding that it must be fought with force. He suggested that the existing International Coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria could be expanded. The coalition, which includes dozens of countries led by the US, could then also fight Hamas in Gaza, according to the French president. Macron gave no further details of how he envisaged this, but he did say that France was ready to do so. Prime Minister Netanyahu has previously said that Hamas and ISIS are one and the same.

The French president also warned the armed organization Hezbollah and Iran not to open new fronts in the conflict, referring to tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border: “I am here warning Hezbollah, the Iranian regime, the Houthis in Yemen and all factions in the region that threaten Israel not to take the ill-considered risk of opening new fronts. To do so would be to open the door to a regional conflagration from which everyone would come out the loser.”

The International Coalition has its hands full with the growing threat of an ISIS resurgence in northern and eastern Syria and escalating attacks by Iranian-backed militias. Many coalition countries are also involved in the war between Russia and Ukraine. It remains to be seen whether such a coalition will be formed against Hamas.