PARIS: France’s President Emmanuel Macron told Israel’s leader during a phone call Tuesday that the suffering of Gazan civilians “must end” and that only a ceasefire in Gaza could free remaining Israeli hostages.
“The ordeal the civilian populations of Gaza are going through must end,“ Macron posted on X after the call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He also called for “opening all humanitarian aid crossings” into the besieged Palestinian territory.
The United Nation has warned that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is spiralling out of control, with no aid having entered the territory for weeks.
Palestinian militant group Hamas said Monday that Israel had offered a 45-day ceasefire if it releases half of the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
A Hamas official told AFP that Israel had also demanded that the Palestinian militants disarm to secure an end to the Gaza war, but that this crossed a “red line”.
Macron said he told Netanyahu “the release of all hostages” and the “demilitarisation of Hamas” were still an absolute priority for France.
He said he hoped for “a ceasefire, the release of all hostages, humanitarian aid, and then finally reopening the prospect of a political two-state solution”.
Macron irked Israel last week when he suggested Paris could recognise a Palestinian state during a United Nations conference in New York in June.
Israel insists such moves by foreign states are premature.
But Macron has said he hopes French recognition of a Palestinian state will encourage not just other nations to follow suit, but also countries who do not recognise Israel to do so.
