Two French children were killed in the Gaza Strip, their mother and her third child having probably been injured, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday.
“France learned with sadness of the death of two children of French nationality found in the north of the Gaza Strip with their French mother who herself was injured, as well as her third child,” said the Quai d’Orsay in a press release, which does not specify the circumstances of the deaths.
Difficulty contacting family
The French consulate general in Jerusalem “however does not manage to establish direct contact on the ground with this national”, which does not allow “at this stage to verify the situation of this family”, continued the French authorities, who say they are continuing their efforts to “reach this national and provide assistance and support to her, as well as to her family”.
According to a French source close to the case, who does not know the ages of the children, the mother, 43, “has been the subject of an international arrest warrant since July 2016 for criminal conspiracy with a view to preparation of acts of terrorism and financing of a terrorist enterprise”.
Born in Talence (south-west), according to this source, she is president of an association which in 2013 carried out a fundraising campaign aimed at transporting medical equipment and medicines to Syria, funds which had in fact “been transported , during the summer of 2013, in the Idlib region, for the benefit of jihadists, with the aim of acquiring weapons and ammunition.
More than 8,500 killed
In February 2019, the mother was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison in Paris for having distributed money collected by her association to members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another movement, in 2012 and 2013 in Gaza. close to Hamas. At the hearing, it was clarified that she must have been living in Gaza since 2016.
The Israeli army is constantly bombarding Gaza in retaliation for the bloody attack on its territory by movement fighters on October 7 Islamist Hamas, who killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, burned alive or died of mutilation.
The Hamas Ministry of Health announced a final death toll of more than 8,500 people, mostly civilians, in the Israeli bombings. France “urges once again that foreign nationals and in particular our compatriots can leave Gaza”, according to the Quai press release.
Paris says it “also reiterates its urgent call for a humanitarian truce so that humanitarian aid can reach those who need it.” “Humanitarian access must be continuous, rapid, safe and unhindered, so that aid can respond in a sustainable manner to the needs of the civilian populations in Gaza,” according to the Quai d’Orsay.