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 had already made a similar statement on Sunday.

Israel’s military began evacuating Rafah on Monday and demanded that the inhabitants of the eastern part of the city to move to the al-Mawasi camp on the Mediterranean.