The proposal that French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about, during the joint press conference he held after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to expand the scope of work of the international coalition to combat ISIS to include fighting Hamas, raises several questions.

Macron said verbatim: “Israel’s priority, but also the priority of France and all democracies, is to defeat terrorist groups. So, we who have been targeted by these groups want to say something simple: You are not alone. Therefore, France is ready to “work” until the “International Coalition to Combat ISIS,” within which France is active in operations in Syria and Iraq, also fights “Hamas.”

Macron added: “I will offer to our international partners, as I indicated this morning, that we build a regional and international coalition to fight the terrorist groups that threaten us all. I believe that this is in the interest and security of Israel, as well as the interest and security of your neighbors who are threatened by these or similar groups.”

Macron's "surprise".

Political sources in Paris believe that what Macron brought was a “surprise,” and that the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or the Minister of Defense had never referred to it in any of their interventions and statements since October 7th. In her lengthy speech before the French Parliament, on Monday afternoon, French Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne discussed at length her country’s policy and stopped at all the files that Macron brought with him to Israel and which he discussed with Netanyahu, and also with the President of the State of Israel and with the former Minister of Defense and the opposition.

French Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne in a conversation with the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the National Assembly on Tuesday to discuss the war in Gaza (AFP)

But what was most absent was specifically the issue of international force and its push to fight ISIS. Moreover, nothing to this effect emerged from all the contacts that Macron had with the majority of Arab or European leaders or with the American President. Then, the Elysee sources, in their presentation of Macron’s expected visit to Israel, never mentioned the international force and the fight against “Hamas” and France’s role in it.

Clarifying blur

Because Macron’s proposal was vague, the sources accompanying him sought to clarify it, and said after the press conference that the intention was “either to build a new coalition, or (to expand the scope of work of the international coalition to combat ISIS) that currently exists, and its mainstay is the United States of America through its bases in Iraq to include (agitation)". These sources added that this matter “depends on what Israel requests.”

Political sources believe that achieving something like this would be far-fetched for several reasons, the first of which is that “nothing links Hamas to ISIS,” and therefore placing them on the same side is both a political and military mistake. The second reason is that the Arab countries participating in the war on ISIS within the framework of the international coalition will refuse to work alongside the Israeli, American and Western forces in general in the war that will be waged on the Gaza Strip.

The third reason is that adopting a plan like this will marginalize the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas more than he is marginalized, and therefore it will hinder him from playing any political role later, especially since thinking about the so-called “next day” that follows the end of the war, notes a major role for the Palestinian Authority and its restoration. To Gaza after the “elimination” of “Hamas”. Fourth, the French proposal does not take into account what the position of the residents of Gaza will be, nor the position of the Arab street when they see American aircraft participating in the strike on Gaza, and what repercussions this will have. Finally, no one can predict in advance what Hamas's reaction will be and how the file of hostages or kidnapped persons in its possession will develop. Macron has made their release a major goal of his communications.

Improvise the proposal

What indicates the improvisation in the French proposal is that sources accompanying Macron later indicated that what is required is “to be guided by the experience of the international coalition against ISIS, and to consider what can be borrowed from it against Hamas.” Therefore, we are in the process of thinking with our partners and with Israel in this context, and therefore it will be up to our partners and Israel in the first place to express their needs.”

Finally, these sources indicated that the work of the “International Coalition against ISIS” “is not limited to field operations, as it includes training Iraqi forces and exchanging intelligence information...”

The above shows that the French proposal is “immature,” and it is not certain that it may see the light while Israel is preparing to invade Gaza by land. The first reaction from Paris came from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the former presidential candidate and leader of the hard-left “Rebel France” party, who criticized Macron’s proposal and saw in it a “return to the theory of the war on terrorism” promoted by former US President George W. Bush, which... French diplomacy confronted him at the time.

Ignoring the “humanitarian truce”

What is also striking in the course of Macron’s talks, who held a closed meeting with Netanyahu and then an expanded meeting that included the delegations of both parties, did not refer, either remotely or remotely, to the issue of the “humanitarian truce,” which the Prime Minister and the Elysee’s advisors focused on, and saw in it as a “prelude.” possible” for a cessation of hostilities.

Likewise, in the joint press conference with the Israeli Prime Minister, the French President did not make any reference to the victims of the multi-faceted bombing operations carried out by the Israeli army, which left more than 5,000 Palestinians dead and many times more wounded, in addition to the demolition of entire areas in the Gaza Strip.

One of the Elysee advisors said that it would be difficult for the Israeli army, which is preparing to invade Gaza with the aim of destroying Hamas, to do so while respecting international law, noting that Macron repeated to Netanyahu “the necessity for Israeli democracy to respect a number of standards, including Not to harm civilians who were described as (Hamas) hostages.”

Source: Al-Sharq Al- Awsat