French President Emmanuel Macron opened a Gaza aid conference on Thursday with an appeal for Israel to protect civilians as it fights Hamas, saying “all lives have equal worth” and that fighting terrorism “can never be carried out without rules”.

The gathering in Paris brought together officials from western and Arab nations, the United Nations and nongovernmental organisations, with the aim of providing urgent aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip that is being pounded by Israel in its war against Hamas. Israeli authorities weren’t participating in the talks, Macron’s office said.

Macron reiterated calls for a humanitarian pause in Israel’s operations. He said that by attacking Israel on October 7, Hamas “shouldered the responsibility for exposing Palestinians to terrible consequences”, and he again defended Israel’s right to defend itself.

But Macron also stressed that civilians must be protected. “It’s absolutely essential. It is non-negotiable,” he said.

“All lives have equal worth and there are no double standards for those of us with universal and humanist values,” he said.

“Fighting terrorism can never be carried out without rules. Israel knows that. The trap of terrorism is for all of us the same: giving in to violence and renouncing our values,” he added.

More than 1.5 million people — or about 70 per cent of Gaza’s population — have fled their homes, and an estimated $1.2 billion is needed to respond to the crisis in Palestinian areas.

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides was to present his plan for a humanitarian sea corridor to Gaza which he has said aims for a “sustained, secure high-volume flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza in the immediate, medium and long term”. Ships would deliver the aid from Cyprus’s main port of Limassol, about 410km away.

French officials said they were also considering evacuating injured people to hospital ships in the Mediterranean off the Gaza coast. Paris sent a helicopter carrier off the Cyprus coast and is preparing another with medical capacities on board for that purpose.

Thursday’s discussions will also include financial support and other ways to help Gaza’s civilians. Over 50 nations were expected to attend, including several European countries, the US and regional powers such as Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf countries, the French presidency said.