French President Emmanuel Macron is on the second leg of his Middle East tour. After meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, Macron arrived in Jordan, where he will meet King Abdullah II.
Macron will meet with King Abdullah in Amman to discuss reactivating the political process toward a two-state solution.
Earlier Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Macron the international community must halt Israel's "aggression" as it battles Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Macon is the first Western leader to go to the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in the occupied West Bank during the current crisis.
"We urge you, President Macron, to stop this aggression" as he condemned Israeli air strikes that "kill innocent civilians in a barbaric way", Abbas said.
Israel and the countries who support it were to blame for the conflict, he added, while calling for an "international peace conference" on Gaza.
Macron told reporters that "nothing can justify" the suffering of civilians in the Palestinian territory since the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
Palestinian state?
"There will not be any sustainable peace if there is no recognition of the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to have territory and a state," Macron said.
"There will be no sustainable peace if there is no clear recognition by the Palestinian people and their authorities of an Israeli state and the importance of its existence and its security."
Earlier in Jerusalem, Macron defended Israel's right to defend itself against "terrorism".
He also called for "a decisive relaunch of the Palestinian peace process" and proposed extending the coalition against Islamic State group campaign to fight Hamas.
Israel says1,400 people were killed when Hamas gunmen crossed into its territory earlier this month.
Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry says that 5,791 peopleinc – including more than 2,000 children and 1,400 women – have since died in Israel's air raids.
(with newswires)
