• Lemoine said “the plan must entirely exclude Hamas from governing Gaza”

PARIS: France Thursday saluted an Arab plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority, adding Islamist militant group Hamas should be “entirely” excluded from running it.

The proposal that Arab leaders endorsed on Tuesday “constitutes a serious and credible basis to respond to reconstruction, governance and security needs after the Gaza war,” French foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said. But “the plan must entirely exclude Hamas from governing Gaza, where it must be disarmed and give Israel serious security guarantees.”

AFP