Just when it began to look like French President Emmanuel Macron understood the evil in the world, he went full surrender monkey. He held a conference with countries willing to provide aid for civilians in Gaza, a population that numbers 2.4M people.

The conference was hastily arranged and held on the sidelines of the annual Paris Peace Forum. His government is split over Macron’s position on the Israel-Hamas war. By the end of the conference on Thursday, Macron was calling for a pause first, then a ceasefire. He is the first Western country leader to call for a full ceasefire. Some leaders have jumped on the bandwagon in support of a pause but have stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

A pause is a ceasefire with a kinder, gentler name. Here’s the thing – a pause by Hamas is a chance to regroup and reload. A pause by Israel is certain death. That is the grim reality. As soon as Israel lets up on its operations, it’s over for them. Hamas is counting on Western leaders going wobbly and buying into the Hamas propaganda being put out on social media and news reports. France caved first. There is a reason the country has the reputation it has.

When Mad Vlad Putin invaded Ukraine, Macron was one of the leaders to move ahead and lean into supporting Zelensky and Ukrainians. He served as a mediator to encourage peace talks between Putin and Zelensky. No success, but he seemed sincere in his efforts. Too bad he’s gone out on a limb now so quickly to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.

“In the immediate term, we need to work on protecting civilians. To do that, we need a humanitarian pause very quickly and we must work towards a ceasefire,” he said.

Israel did not attend the talks and most Arab nations declined to send delegates. The Palestinian Authority did send its prime minister. A ministerial delegation from Egypt attended. The prime ministers of Greece, Ireland, and Luxembourg attended, as did EU officials Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen.

The assumption is that Israel is violating international law as it defends itself. Never mind that Hamas began the war with the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The atrocities committed on October 7 are unspeakable, yet we cannot turn away. Israel has a right to self-defense, as Macron admits, yet the default position in anti-Israel arguments is usually that Israel violates international law. The truth is that Israel warned Gazans before the ground war began and told them to evacuate. Hamas denied them safe passage out of Gaza because Hamas used civilians as human shields. Israel carefully targets its attacks. This war was started by Hamas.

No pause or ceasefire without the release of the hostages should be the demand by Israel. More than a month out, there is still no list or accounting of the Israelis and Americans taken hostage.

Gazans are dying because of the actions of Hamas.

Israel had the right to defend itself, Macron said but added it also had an “eminent responsibility of abiding by law” as it responds to Hamas’s deadly 7 October attack.

Civilians in Gaza are “paying the price” of the Israel-Hamas war, Macron said, adding that the population “has to be protected”.

France will increase its aid for Palestinian civilians to 100 million euros, Macron announced as he called on other countries to follow suit in increasing their financial contributions via the United Nations.

The U.N. and others are concerned about humanitarian aid reaching Gazans. They blamed Israel. Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said the West Bank “is boiling.” He is worried about the spillover risk of the war. Lazzarini said aid coming in through Rafah was not adequate – he wants all the crossings into Gaza opened.

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths described the conflict in Gaza as a wildfire that could spread across the region. Allowing the situation to continue in Gaza would be a “travesty”, he said.

“The United Nations cannot be part of a unilateral proposal to push Palestinians into so-called safe zones,” Griffiths said.

Egypt condemned what it called “international silence on violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israel”.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told the conference: “What the Israeli government is doing far exceeds the right to self-defense.”

Egyptian officials should talk to Hamas. Hamas hijacks the humanitarian aid and doesn’t care if the Gazans are receiving the humanitarian aid. There is no negotiating with animals. They have to be destroyed. The numbers of civilian deaths reported by the health ministry in Gaza are not to be trusted.

During a trip to Israel shortly after October 7, Macron did not call for a pause or a ceasefire. Too bad he has gone wobbly now.

Netanyahu responded to Macron’s call for a pause that leads to a ceasefire.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded quickly to Mr Macron’s comments, saying nations should condemn Hamas, not Israel.

“The crimes that Hamas [is] committing today in Gaza will be committed tomorrow in Paris, New York, and anywhere in the world,” a statement from Mr. Netanyahu’s office read.

He’s right. Violence against Jews is escalating in America. It is happening around the world. Appeasing Hamas will not stop that.