French opposition delegation demands cease-fire in Gaza during visit to Egypt

PARIS

A delegation of 16 French opposition lawmakers demanded an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza on Saturday during a visit to Egypt.

The delegation, including members from the far-left La France Insoumise -- LFI, or France Unbowed party -- is visiting Egypt and the Rafah border crossing.

It included members of the France Unbowed party, such as Eric Coquerel and Thomas Portes, who held discussions with France's Ambassador to Cairo, Eric Chevalier, during the visit as part of a mission to advocate for an immediate and lasting cease-fire.

Coquerel, in a news conference following the meeting, said the delegation, comprising members from various French political parties, undertook the visit to address the urgent need for a cease-fire.

Highlighting the severity of the situation, Coquerel expressed concern about the risk of genocide, citing the deaths of more than 27,000 civilians, including Palestinian women and children, and approximately 400 in the West Bank.

Emphasizing the health and humanitarian crises in the region, Coquerel announced that the delegation plans to visit the Rafah border crossing on Sunday, becoming the first foreign parliamentary group to do so since Oct. 7.

The delegation is also set to meet personnel from the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or UNRWA. Coquerel emphasized the critical role UNRWA plays in conducting humanitarian aid operations in the region and expressed concerns that a failure in its functioning would be catastrophic.

Portes highlighted the importance of maintaining pressure on Israel for the enforcement of precautionary measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Despite the top UN court’s ruling eight days ago, Portes criticized Israel for not implementing any of the ordered measures and accused it of continuing actions leading to the loss of lives in Gaza.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 that has killed at least 27,238 Palestinians and injured 66,452 following a surprise attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel in December at the International Court of Justice.

The court on Jan. 26 found South Africa's claim that Israel is committing genocide plausible. It issued an interim order urging Israel to stop obstructing aid deliveries into Gaza and to improve the humanitarian situation.