The French Foreign Ministry has emphasized its “firm opposition” to Israeli plans to launch a military ground offensive against the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. “France also recalls that the forced displacement of a civilian population constitutes a war crime under international law,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday. The French government demanded that the Palestinian militant group Hamas immediately release all hostages, and that parties to the conflict agree to a permanent ceasefire that protects the needs of the civilian population. French President Emmanuel Macron h…