France says working to get AFP journalists out of Gaza

PARIS (AFP): France said on Thursday it was concerned about the heavy toll among journalists covering the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and it was pushing to get Agence France-Presse reporters out of the Gaza Strip.

“We are keeping up our efforts regarding AFP employees,” said Christophe Lemoine, deputy spokesman for Paris’ foreign ministry.

It is “a complex operation”, he added.

“Since October, we have been working to allow French citizens on the ground to leave Gaza, as well as their dependents,” Lemoine added.

The comments came after a group of journalists, among them AFP staff, published an op-ed in French daily Le Monde asking French President Emmanuel Macron to help secure the evacuation of Palestinian journalists working with French media.

Gaza’s Rafah crossing into Egypt has been shut since the start of the war that began after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, the deadliest in the country’s history.

While the border crossing has intermittently opened in recent weeks, only people whose names were on approved lists have been allowed out.

“Since the start of the war, foreign nationals have been able to leave Gaza, but the Rafah crossing is closed to Palestinian journalists working for French media on the ground,” the op-ed read.

“The Americans have done it… France can do it too. France must do it. It is our collective responsibility,” it added, calling on Macron to work with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help get the journalists out.

In his remarks, Lemoine underscored that France had managed to get Palestinians working at a French cultural institute in Gaza out of the territory, among 154 people it has helped evacuate.

“Concerning Palestinian workers at French firms, aid groups and public figures flagged up to us, we are still looking for solutions with our partners in the region to get them to safety outside the Gaza Strip,” Lemoine said.

Paris also hailed the work of journalists killed while covering the conflict.

France has “concerns about the heavy toll paid by journalists in the context of the conflict between Israel and Hamas”, Lemoine said.

“Civilians must be protected, and that is especially the case for journalists. They have to be able to freely and completely safely do their work,” he added.

At least 63 journalists and media workers — 56 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese — have died since October 7, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Around 40 journalists working with AFP and their dependents are still waiting to get out of Gaza.

Israel recovers body of French hostage

The Israeli army said Friday it had recovered and returned to Israel the body of French-Israeli hostage Elya Toledano, who was kidnapped and taken to Gaza by militants during Hamas’s October 7 attacks.

Toledano, 28, was among an estimated 240 people taken hostage during the Hamas attacks on Israel, which were the deadliest in the country’s history.

He was attending a desert rave party named the Tribe of Nova festival along with friend and fellow French-Israeli Mia Shem, who was released under a truce agreement at the end of November.

Scores of mainly Israeli hostages but also foreign nationals were released during the short-lived truce, while several have been confirmed killed in the war that began with the attacks.

Israeli officials say the October 7 attacks killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, Israel’s ensuing offensive has killed more than 18,700 people, mostly women and children.

“During an operation in Gaza, the body of the hostage Elya Toledano (28) was recovered by IDF Special Forces and brought back to Israel,” the Israeli army said in a statement, adding that forensic experts had identified the remains.

“The IDF sends the family its heartfelt condolences,” it said, adding that Toledano’s family had been notified prior to the public statement.

The families of hostages had said in recent weeks that they did not know whether Toledano was still alive.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said her country was “deeply saddened to hear the Israeli armed forces announce the death of our compatriot Elya Toledano, a Hamas hostage whose body was found in Gaza”.

“We share the grief of his family and loved ones. The release of all hostages is our priority,” she wrote on X.

According to the Israeli military, 135 of the hostages taken to Gaza are still being held.

Families of the hostages said this week that they were “shocked” by the director of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad’s announcement that he was refusing to conduct new negotiations to free them, and demanded an explanation from the authorities.