The French government is “seriously concerned by the announcement by the Israeli authorities that the fighting will intensify and prolong” in the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Paris “strongly reiterates its call for an immediate truce leading to a ceasefire”, added the Center d’Orsay, criticizing “the systematic bombardment” which in recent days “cost the lives of too many civilians” and calling the Israeli authorities to take “tangible measures to protect the lives of the civilian population in Gaza”.

“Welcoming” the Security Council decision adopted on Friday, French diplomacy also called on Israel to facilitate “the dispatch of aid to the entire Gaza Strip and to take urgent measures to guarantee full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access.”

It must be facilitated to take advantage of “all” approaches, including the “Kerem Shalom crossing”, always in the announcement.

The Security Council resolution called for the distribution of “large-scale” humanitarian aid, but not a ceasefire, which the US, Israel’s main backer, did not want.

The hostilities forced 1.9 million residents of the Palestinian enclave — or in other words 85% of the population — to flee their homes. The small area is now threatened with famine, while most hospitals have been shut down.

International aid reaching the enclave is described as completely insufficient to meet the needs of the population of the Gaza Strip, which has been under total siege since October 9 and has already been under a strict Israeli blockade for over 16 years.

Almost three months after the outbreak of this war, triggered by Israel’s deadliest attack in history, ground battles between Israeli military and Palestinian fighters and devastating Israeli aerial bombardments show no sign of abating.

More than 240 Palestinians were killed in 24 hours in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, Hamas announced Tuesday, while Israel’s chief of staff said the war would last “months.”

Israel’s civilian-military leadership has vowed to “eliminate” Hamas after its military arm launched an unprecedented attack on southern sectors of Israeli territory on October 7, when 1,140 people, mostly civilians, were killed. It was the deadliest attack by the state in 1948. Palestinian militants also took about 250 people hostage that day, more than 120 of whom remain captive in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli authorities.

Israeli military retaliatory operations in the Gaza Strip have killed 20,915 people, the vast majority of them women, children and teenagers, and wounded another 54,918, according to the latest tally from the Hamas Health Ministry.