Emmanuel Macron once again expressed "his firm opposition" to an Israeli offensive on Rafah. The French president notably warned that “the forced transfer of population constituted a war crime” He also informed Benjamin Netanyahu of his intention to bring a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to call for “an immediate and lasting ceasefire” The war broke out on October 7 after an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians.