[VIDEO] Guerre Israël-Hamas : mais qu’est donc parti faire Manuel Valls en Israël ?

Surprise sur les réseaux sociaux depuis quelques jours : Manuel Valls est apparu sur des vidéos en Israël. Il est arrivé dans la soirée de dimanche sur le sol israélien, quelques heures après avoir donné une interview sur France Info.

The former Prime Minister is accompanying a delegation of French politicians invited by ELNET, an NGO that works towards bringing Europe and Israel closer together. The delegation consists of ten members from the Renaissance and LR parties who have chosen to go « to express solidarity with the Israelis ». These elected officials belong to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly or the France-Israel Friendship Group.

Why is Manuel Valls present? He is not officially there for any position since he no longer holds an elected mandate after resigning from the municipal council of the city of Barcelona on August 31, 2021, two years after failing to conquer his hometown. « We are all friends of Israel, » Manuel Valls asserts. « We stand alongside the State and the Israeli people, » he declared, as reported by The Times of Israel.

Un déplacement « pour témoigner »

French officials met with hostage families, either Israeli or Franco-Israeli. They visited the Shura military base in central Israel, the Kfar Aza kibbutz near the Gaza Strip, where many residents were killed, or the ghost town of Sderot. In an interview with i24 news, Manuel Valls explained: « We received a report with words, images, a terrifying reality. Here, this reality grabs us by the throat in every sense of the word, the smell of death, destruction, and tales of horror. » He added: « It is also to bear witness that we are here, to say what the reality of Hamas is, this Islamist terrorist organization that wants to kill Jews because they are Jews. »

Israel estimates that Hamas is holding 199 hostages following the attack on October 7th. The terrorist organization released a video on Tuesday featuring a 21-year-old Franco-Israeli woman. The number of French victims killed has increased to 21, with 11 still missing, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.