A French official has denied the report that France held secret talks with Hamas beginning in 2020, with the approval of French President Emmanuel Macron, N12 reported Saturday night.
“These baseless accusations are apparently intended to undermine the legitimacy of our efforts toward a two-state political solution,” the diplomat said, according to N12.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization that committed the worst antisemitic massacre of the 21st century. France will continue to work to permanently disarm it and exclude it from any political 'aftermath', in Gaza and beyond," the diplomat pledged.
The report came days after Macron publicly declared France’s intention to recognize a Palestinian state.
According to a classified document reportedly obtained by Israeli defense officials in Gaza, the first covert meeting took place on October 16, 2020, in Doha, Qatar.
The meeting was held between a senior French intelligence official, identified as the number three figure in French intelligence, and Hamas leaders Mousa Abu Marzouk and Khaled Mashal. The French official was accompanied by members of his delegation.
The document indicates that the French initiated the meeting, during which the intelligence representative expressed criticism of the United States’ handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He also conveyed France’s desire to engage directly with Hamas in addition to the Palestinian Authority.
'We, the French, are historically close to the Palestinian struggle'
“I am pleased about this meeting. I come here with President Macron’s approval,” the official was quoted as saying in the document. “We do not want to speak only with the Palestinian Authority, but also with you. We, the French, are historically close to the Palestinian struggle.”
According to the report, Abu Marzouk and Mashal responded by reiterating Hamas’s long-standing opposition to Israel, “Even if the international community supports the Zionist entity, be assured we will defeat it. This land is ours, and our resistance and revolution have continued for over a century. We will persist until victory.”
The document reportedly contains no record of objection or condemnation from the French delegation regarding these remarks.
In response to the Channel 12 report, a French diplomat denied the allegations, saying, “These baseless accusations are likely intended to undermine the legitimacy of our efforts toward a political two-state solution. Hamas is a terrorist organization that committed the worst antisemitic massacre of the 21st century. France will continue working toward its permanent disarmament and its exclusion from any ‘day after’ political arrangements both in Gaza and beyond.”