French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that abandoning war-torn Gaza to its fate and giving Israel a ‘free pass’ would kill the West's credibility with the world.’If we abandon Gaza, if we consider there is a free pass for Israel, even if we do condemn the terrorist attacks, we will kill our credibility,’ Macron told a top defence forum in Singapore, adding: ‘And this is why we do reject double standard.’The French leader also said Europe and the US were unable to solve crises around the world, including in Gaza and Ukraine.’I think the credibility of both the US and the Europeans to pretend to fix the crises in these regions (are) very low,’ Macron told the Shangri-la Dialogue at the end of his Southeast Asian tour.France could harden its position on Israel if it continues to block humanitarian aid to Gaza, Macron said, reiterating that Paris was committed to a two-state solution to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.’The humanitarian blockade is creating a situation that is untenable on the ground,’ Macron said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.’And so, if there is no response that meets the humanitarian situation in the coming hours and days, obviously, we will have to toughen our collective position,’ Macron said, adding that France may consider applying sanctions against Israeli settlers.EU leaders have toughened their tone on Israel in recent days.European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday denounced attacks in the past days on civilian infrastructure in Gaza as ‘abhorrent’ and ‘disproportionate’.But the 27-member bloc has long struggled to have an impact on the conflict due to long-standing divisions between countries that back Israel and those seen as more pro-Palestinian.The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire despite aid beginning to trickle back into the Palestinian territory after a more than two-month Israeli blockade.Food security experts say starvation is looming for one in five people.
