Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected in Paris on Thursday for what will be his first visit to France since returning to power a month ago. The meeting comes against a background of escalating violence between Israelis and Palestinians that has triggered an international outcry.
Netanyahu is to make an official visit to France, meeting French President Emmanuel Macron over dinner.
Netanyahu – who previously served as prime minister from 2009 to 2021 – returned to power at the end of December at the head of a coalition that includes right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.
The visit comes as Israeli-Palestinian violence has escalated in recent days.
In the wake of the deadliest Israeli raid on the West Bank in years – followed by rocket fire from Gaza into Israel and retaliatory Israeli air strikes – a Palestinian killed seven people in East Jerusalem on Friday.
Tit-for-tat violence continued over the weekend into Monday, when Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in the southern city of Hebron.
Calls for de-escalation of violence
The fighting has sparked fears of a new spiral of violence and calls for restraint have increased around the world.
On Sunday, Macron urged Israelis and Palestinians to "avoid measures" that could fuel the spiral of violence.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss de-escalation measures.
Blinken also met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday, and expressed his sorrow for "innocent" Palestinians killed during months of violence in the West Bank – a Palestinian territory that has been occupied by Israel since 1967.
NGOs put pressure on Macron
Meanwhile, the Platform of French NGOs for Palestine has called on Macron to take "necessary measures" to ban trade in Israeli products made in occupied territories.
Benyamin Netanyahou à l’Élysée jeudi 2 février : la colonisation, principal obstacle à la paix https://t.co/EHdBJDd8cQ
— Plateforme Palestine (@PFPalestine) February 1, 2023
According to a press release issued on Wednesday, the coalition of NGOs has called on France to "pursue a clear policy aimed at excluding Israeli settlement-related activities from its bilateral relations with Israel, by banning the import and marketing of products and services [imported from] occupied territories".
The labelling of products from territories occupied by Israel is mandatory in France. However, NGOs say the system is unreliable.
