Paris has been carrying out “secret contacts” with Hamas at least since October 2020, when a high-ranking French intelligence official met two with senior Hamas figures in Doha, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Saturday.
The meeting, initiated by the French, came to Israel’s knowledge through a document captured by the IDF in Gaza, which provided a detailed report on the meeting.
On Oct. 16, 2020, the No. 3 in French intelligence met with Hamas senior officials Moussa Abu Marzouk and Khaled Mashaal, respectively the former and current chairman of Hamas’s so-called political bureau.
The captured document revealed the minutes of the Qatar talks.
“I am happy about this meeting. I come to it with President [Emmanuel] Macron’s approval. We don’t want to talk only to the Palestinian Authority, but also to you. We, the French, are historically close to the Palestinian struggle,” the French intelligence representative told the Hamas officials.
He also said France was highly critical of the way the United States was handling the Palestinian issue, Channel 12 reported.
Abu Marzouk and Mashaal replied: “Even if the international community supports the Zionist entity, be sure that we will defeat it. This land is ours, and our resistance and revolution have been going on for more than a century, and we will continue until victory.”
The document shows no mention of the French protesting the clear statements of Hamas’s intent to destroy Israel.
The revelation comes as Macron announced his intention to recognize a Palestinian state, posting to social media on July 24: “I will make the solemn announcement at the United Nations General Assembly in September.’’
In response to the Channel 12 report, a French diplomat denied the document’s contents. “These baseless accusations are apparently intended to undermine the legitimacy of our efforts toward a two-state political solution,” the diplomat said.
“Hamas is a terrorist organization that has carried out the worst antisemitic massacre of the 21st century. France will continue to work to permanently disarm it and exclude it from any political ‘day after,’ in Gaza and beyond,” the diplomat added.
