French Foreign Minister calls for 'universal' recognition of Hamas atrocities

Tel Aviv [Israel], December 18 (ANI/TPS): Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met on Sunday with the visiting French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna.
Cohen told Colonna about the dangers posed by the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, saying, "Hezbollah endangers the security of Lebanon and that of the entire region. If this threat is not removed diplomatically, we will not hesitate to take military action."
Cohen said that the two discussed preventing war in the north by "distancing Hezbollah from the border with Israel, in accordance with UN Resolution 1701."
"The fight against Iranian-funded terrorist organizations is not only in the interest of Israel," he added, "but of the entire Western world."
Minister Colonna said that in their meeting she "reiterated the attachment of the French to the security of Israel in the face of terrorism, the urgency of a humanitarian truce in Gaza for the release of hostages and humanitarian access and the importance of everything to do to avoid an escalation with Lebanon."
Colonna, however, did not clarify what she meant by "everything to do."
The French Foreign Minister remarked on the sexual violations enacted on victims of the Hamas October 7 attack, as reports increase about how the terrorists savaged people, both men and women, both the living and the dead.
"Neither silence nor denial: atrocious sexual violence was perpetrated by the terrorists of October 7," she said. "They must be universally recognized, firmly condemned, and their perpetrators severely punished."
Colonna heard what she described as "chilling testimonies from women involved in this cause." (ANI/TPS)