“Highlight France’s lasting commitment to the fight against terrorism.” This is the objective of President Macron’s trip to Jordan on December 21 and 22. In the midst of a political storm in France, the Head of State will address Thursday evening to the 350 soldiers from the base who will be invited to a Christmas dinner prepared by the presidential kitchens.
Thursday afternoon, he will meet the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, with whom he had already met on October 25 during a tour of the Near and Middle East. This will be “an opportunity to return to the work that we have in common with our Jordanian partners in terms of humanitarian and medical aid to the civilian population of Gaza”, according to the Elysée.
Two new humanitarian aid cargo flights intended for civilians in the Gaza Strip (scheduled for this Thursday and December 26) will be destined for Amman. On the eve of his departure, the French president recalled the French position on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“As the weeks go by, we cannot let the idea take hold that to fight effectively against terrorism would mean razing everything in Gaza or indiscriminately attacking civilian populations and causing civilian victims,” he said. he said in an interview with the France 5 channel.
“This is why, while recognizing Israel’s right to protect itself while fighting terrorism, we demand the protection of these people and a truce leading to a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds,” he said. he added.
The IS group still active
The French soldiers deployed in Jordan are part of Operation Chammal which, in addition to those based in Jordan, includes 250 French forces in Iraq and Syria as part of the French component of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIF) launched in 2014 against the Islamic State (IS) group and coordinated by the United States.
The death of three French soldiers this summer in Iraq – a member of the special forces in operation, a soldier in an accident and a third during an “operational exercise” – was a reminder that France was still engaged in the region where the EI remains active.
However, “the operation has evolved and focuses on advice, assistance and facilitation missions for the benefit of the Iraqi forces”, specified the Elysée. Strikes in support of Iraqi forces are today “few in number”, according to the same source. Four Rafales are currently based in Jordan.
A first for Macron
Since October 7 and the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip, attacks by pro-Iranian militias have increased, particularly in Syria against American bases, with a real risk climbing, according to security experts. This is the first time that the French president has visited an Air Force planned air base (BAP) for Christmas.
In December 2022, Emmanuel Macron traveled with the navy to the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off the coast of Egypt. In previous years, he had traveled several times to Africa, to Chad or Ivory Coast where the French army was then very involved in the fight against terrorism.
Friday, while the president will be at the planned air base in the Levant, the last French soldiers will fly out of Niger, as announced by the military regime in power in this Sahelian country, after more than ten years of anti-jihadist struggle in the region. .
Driven out of Mali, Burkina Faso and then Niger by hostile juntas, French forces have been partly redeployed in Eastern Europe since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.