PARIS (AP) — The French presidential palace unveiled a new center-right government Saturday, more than two months after elections that produced a hung parliament and deepened political divisions as France grapples with economic and diplomatic challenges.
Conservative French Prime Minister Michel Barnier put together the government after weeks of difficult negotiations, and President Emmanuel Macron approved it. The new government was announced at the presidential palace.
A left-wing coalition secured the most seats in June-July elections but failed to win an outright majority. The 38-member Cabinet announced Saturday includes primarily ministers from Macron's centrist alliance and the conservative Republicans party.
Jean-Noël Barrot is the new foreign minister, a centrist politician from MoDem known for his work in digital transformation and European affairs. His brings extensive experience in navigating complex international issues notably within the EU.
The new finance minister is Antoine Armand, an emerging figure in French politics now tasked with steering France’s fiscal policies, and managing the upcoming 2025 budget amidst pressure from Brussels to address France’s mounting debt.
Sébastien Lecornu retains his post as defense minister. He has been instrumental in bolstering France’s military capabilities, including modernizing defense systems and managing military aid to Ukraine. His leadership in defense will be crucial as France navigates its role within NATO and handles rising geopolitical tensions over the wars in Ukraine and the Mideast.
The interior minister job goes to Bruno Retailleau, a staunch conservative who will now handle critical domestic issues like national security, immigration, and law enforcement.
Barnier’s ability to govern effectively is already under scrutiny, with his political opponents on the left vowing to challenge him at every turn. The party of far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, France Unbowed, held protests Saturday against his government, and calls Barnier’s appointment a rejection of the voters’ will.
Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally said it would monitor the government closely and has enough votes in parliament to bring it down, but expressed willingness to cooperate on key budgetary issues.
FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with then-European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP, File)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli strike on a school in northern Gaza on Saturday killed at least 22 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while the Israeli army said that it targeted a Hamas command center in what used to be a school.
Another 30 were wounded in the strike on the school in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, the ministry said in a statement. Most of the casualties were women and children, it said. It wasn't immediately clear which hospital the dead and injured were taken to.
Video taken by The Associated Press showed dozens of people including children digging through the rubble of the building — its ceilings caved in, walls knocked out and a mess of wires and metal rods visible. Outside, others gathered around shrouded bodies. Some covered their faces as they wept for relatives killed in the strike.
“A missile, a missile from the plane hit us, and another missile,” said Ferial Deloul, who is displaced. “We saw the whole world covered with smoke and stones and we saw people and children cut up. … What should we do? What is our fault for this to happen to us?”
The Israeli army said earlier Saturday that it struck Hamas' “command and control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served” as a school. It said steps were taken to limit harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
Also on Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry said five of its workers were killed and five others wounded by Israeli fire that struck the ministry’s warehouses in the southern Musbah area.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli army has struck several schools, packed with tens of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders. The conflict has left 90% of Palestinians in Gaza displaced, according to figures from the United Nations.
The military has continually accused Hamas of operating from within civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including schools, U.N. facilities and hospitals. The contesting narratives over the use of schools and hospitals go to the heart of the nearly yearlong conflict.
Earlier this month, an Israeli strike hit a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 14, according to Palestinian medical officials. The Israeli military said that it was targeting Hamas militants planning attacks from inside the school.
In July, Israeli airstrikes hit a girls' school in Deir al-Balah, killing at least 30 people sheltering inside. Israel’s military said that it targeted a Hamas command center used to direct attacks against its troops and store “large quantities of weapons.”
The war began when Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in an Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. They abducted another 250 people and are still holding around 100 hostages. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between fighters and civilians.
Tensions soared in the region on Friday after an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb in Lebanon killed dozens of people, including civilians and Ibrahim Akil, who was in charge of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force. Also killed was Ahmed Wahbi, another senior commander in the group’s military wing.
The strike came hours after Hezbollah launched one of its most intense bombardments of northern Israel in nearly a year of fighting. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted most of the rockets.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel had struck more than 400 rocket launchers in Lebanon on Saturday.
Despite the situation in the north, tens of thousands demonstrated Saturday evening in Tel Aviv for a return of the hostages.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
