The French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, arrived in Israel on Sunday, where she is set to call for an "immediate and lasting" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Catherine Colonna © Mena Today
The French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, arrived in Israel on Sunday, where she is set to call for an "immediate and lasting" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Ms. Colonna is scheduled to meet her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, in Tel Aviv.
In addition to official meetings, Ms. Colonna is expected to meet with families of French hostages and call for "a new immediate and lasting humanitarian ceasefire," ultimately leading to a permanent ceasefire, to secure the release of all hostages and provide humanitarian aid to the Gaza population, according to a statement from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The minister will then visit the West Bank for talks with her Palestinian Authority counterpart, Riyad al-Maliki.
The minister will be received by military personnel identifying bodies and forensic doctors responsible for collecting evidence of violence or sexual abuse that may have been committed by Hamas attackers.
She will also meet with representatives of associations defending female victims who collect evidence and seek recognition of these acts of violence.
An apparent drone attack - claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia - hit central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, killing one man and slightly wounding four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his U.S. counterpart that military operations in the Gaza Strip have created conditions that would enable a hostage deal to be reached, Gallant's office said on Wednesday.
A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the Middle East was briefly interrupted on Wednesday when two protesters stood with signs and yelled for the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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