( dpa ) - The French Foreign Ministry said Monday that Paris "very much deplores" the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the power cuts and food shortages it produced.
"We have expressed our very deep concern regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza," a spokesman for the ministry said in a statement.
He said France urged the reopening of crossing points "and the immediate resumption of fuel deliveries to allow the central electric power station to be turned on again."
He added that the crisis made even more urgent the payment of the 7.4 billion dollars in aid pledged by the international community to the Palestinians at a donor conference held in Paris on December 17.
"This aid concerns all of the Palestinian Territories, and therefore also Gaza," the spokesman said.