At the UN General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron sparked intense diplomatic backlash after criticizing Israeli actions in the West Bank and dismissing Donald Trump's claims of securing peace in Gaza. Macron asserted that Hamas has never been active in the West Bank, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials to denounce his comments as a "grotesque absurdity." Israeli leaders pointed to the recent murder of French-Israeli citizen Netanel Shukrun by a Hamas gunman in the West Bank to refute Macron's claims.
Macron criticizes Trump Gaza claims
- ▪French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan as a "spectacle" that should shame everyone, speaking at the UN General Assembly hours after Trump himself hailed his Gaza peace plan as a diplomatic triumph
- ▪French President Emmanuel Macron dismissed Donald Trump's claims of securing peace in Gaza, stating that not a single humanitarian corridor had been reopened despite Trump's proclaimed peace
Israeli government response to Macron
- ▪Yesha Council Chairman Israel Ganz accused French President Emmanuel Macron of taking "fake news to a new high" and demanded an immediate apology to the families of terror victims like Netanel Shukrun
- ▪Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office denounced French President Emmanuel Macron's Tuesday UN General Assembly speech as a "grotesque absurdity," stating that Hamas terrorists carry out attacks against Jews almost every day in the West Bank
- ▪United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee criticized French President Emmanuel Macron's UN speech, calling it "out of touch with reality" and stating that Hamas is an "evil scourge" that has killed innocent American citizens.
- ▪Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accused French President Emmanuel Macron of lying, stating that a Hamas terrorist murdered Netanel Shukrun, a French-Israeli father of six, in the West Bank on September 20, 2026.
West Bank settlement expansion
- ▪The United Nations reported that there were approximately six settler-related violent incidents against Palestinians or their property daily in the West Bank through mid-2026.
- ▪France recently joined the United Kingdom in imposing sanctions on products originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
UN ethnic cleansing warnings
- ▪United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned at the UN General Assembly that violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank are raising the "spectre of ethnic cleansing."
- ▪United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres described Israel's military campaign in Gaza as an "onslaught on Palestinians" with unprecedented scale of killing and destruction.
Gaza humanitarian access restrictions
- ▪French President Emmanuel Macron argued that recognizing a Palestinian state must be accompanied by concrete action on the ground to ensure the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to exist.
- ▪French President Emmanuel Macron stated at the UN General Assembly that ongoing restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza are "shameful" and put the credibility of the international community to the test.
Trump Gaza peace plan
- ▪United States President Donald Trump claimed at the UN General Assembly that his administration ended the war in Gaza a few weeks after his previous address, saving thousands of lives.
- ▪White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly defended Donald Trump's diplomacy, stating that Trump ended the war between Israel and Hamas, freed all living hostages, and is implementing a 20-Point Plan for Peace in Gaza
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