Combating terrorism does not mean "flattening Gaza," says French president

On Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, stated that "hitting civilian populations" cannot be the goal of fighting "terrorist groups."

He was talking during a year-end interview with France 5, a French broadcaster.

"We cannot allow it to be accepted that the only way to effectively combat terrorism would mean flattening Gaza or launch indiscriminate attacks against civilians, resulting in civilian casualties," he stated.

Macron stated that nations other than Israel were involved in the battle against Hamas and other "terrorist groups" in the Middle East. However, massive destruction—"including civilian infrastructure and hitting civilian populations"—should not be part of the security response to terrorism.