Top French Diplomat Opposes Forced Displacement of Palestinians

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné was in Israel on Feb. 5, where he demanded, following a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that “settler violence must stop” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Under no circumstances can there be forced displacement of Palestinians, neither out of Gaza nor out of the West Bank,” Séjourné said during a Middle East tour aimed at securing a truce between Israel and militant group Hamas in Gaza. He denounced anti-Palestinian rhetoric and “even calls to commit war crimes,” made by Israeli officials after some Netanyahu allies participated in an event that proposed Jewish resettlement of the Gaza Strip after the war. Whether Netanyahu or anyone else in Israel was listening or not is not reported.