内容摘要：The minister, Bruno Retailleau, met privately Friday with crypto entrepreneurs to discuss their safety and spare further damage to his tough-on-crime image and Macron’s efforts to position France as a welcoming place for cutting-edge technologies and businesses. Retailleau’s ministry urged journalists not to film the meeting participants “for reasons of security” and described it as “strictly confidential,” a measure of how the succession of extortion attempts in recent months has jangled nerves.

The minister, Bruno Retailleau, met privately Friday with crypto entrepreneurs to discuss their safety and spare further damage to his tough-on-crime image and Macron’s efforts to position France as a welcoming place for cutting-edge technologies and businesses. Retailleau’s ministry urged journalists not to film the meeting participants “for reasons of security” and described it as “strictly confidential,” a measure of how the succession of extortion attempts in recent months has jangled nerves.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials. The officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel blames Hamas for the rising death toll in Gaza because it operates from civilian infrastructure, including schools.

The latest bloodshed came days after Israelin the Palestinian enclave. It would include seizing Gaza, holding on to captured territories, forcibly displacing Palestinians to southern Gaza and taking control of aid distribution along with private security companies.Israel is also calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers to carry out the plan.

Other ministers were also worried about developments in Gaza.Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said that “it’s time for the European Union and for the whole international community to wake up. Honestly, what we are seeing is an absolute shame. It’s not acceptable.”

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said he had spent a lot of time in the region in recent months, but that his pleas to Israel to show restraint have fallen on deaf ears.

“I have the feeling they’re listening to no one. I fully understand they have pressure, and Hamas, and they still have hostages. But we have to be around to table to see how we can find solutions,” Bettel told reporters.Mounting Israeli public support for an end to the war has not swayed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his stance that Hamas must be destroyed first. The military pressure, vast destruction in Gaza and rising death toll have so far not budged Hamas from its position demanding an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Here is a deeper look at why an end to the war has been so elusive.Ultra-orthodox Jewish man looks at the Gaza Strip from an observation point in Sderot, southern Israel, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Ultra-orthodox Jewish man looks at the Gaza Strip from an observation point in Sderot, southern Israel, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking 251 hostages. Israel’s massive retaliation has killed over 52,000 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities, whose count does not differentiate between militants and civilians.