By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

A delegation of 16 French opposition lawmakers demanded an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza on Saturday during a visit to Egypt.

According to the Anadolu Agency the delegation, which includes members from the far-left La France Insoumise — LFI, or France Unbowed party — is visiting Egypt and the Rafah border crossing.

It included members of the France Unbowed party, such as Eric Coquerel and Thomas Portes, who held discussions with France’s Ambassador to Cairo, Eric Chevalier, during the visit as part of a mission to advocate for an immediate and lasting cease-fire.

A delegation of 16 French opposition lawmakers has demanded an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

— Lexi (@newslexi) February 4, 2024

In a news conference following the meeting, Coquerel said the delegation undertook the visit to address the urgent need for a cease-fire.

Highlighting the severity of the situation, Coquerel expressed concern about the ‘risk of genocide’, citing the deaths of more than 27,000 civilians, including Palestinian women and children, and approximately 400 in the West Bank.

Emphasizing the health and humanitarian crises in the region, Coquerel announced that the delegation plans to visit the Rafah border crossing on Sunday, becoming the first foreign parliamentary group to do so since October 7.

The delegation is also set to meet personnel from the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or UNRWA. Coquerel emphasized the critical role UNRWA plays in conducting humanitarian aid operations in the region and expressed concerns that a failure in its functioning would be catastrophic.

Portes highlighted the importance of maintaining pressure on Israel for the enforcement of ‘precautionary measures’ ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Despite the top UN court’s ruling eight days ago, Portes criticized Israel for not implementing any of the ordered measures and accused it of continuing actions leading to the loss of lives in Gaza.

Avec plusieurs parlementaires français nous sommes à Rafah à la frontière avec #Gaza pour demander un cessez le feu immédiat.
Après la décision de la CIJ, il faut imposer à Israël l’arrêt du massacre du peuple palestinien.
Soutien au peuple palestinien ! pic.twitter.com/Oe9Kbv6CQu

— Thomas Portes (@Portes_Thomas) February 4, 2024

Israel is being accused of committing genocide in Gaza. 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 27,365 Palestinians have been killed, and 66,630 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

Avec les salariés de l’UNWRA à la frontière à Rafah pic.twitter.com/r0LAqJcAF2

— Thomas Portes (@Portes_Thomas) February 4, 2024

Worse still, the aggression has resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly 2 million people from all of the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt—in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

(MEMO, AA, PC)