President Emmanuel Macron of France demanded on Saturday that new negotiations be launched in order to free the hostages that Hamas is holding in the Gaza Strip.
“The French nation is determined that… all the hostages of the October 7 terrorist attacks are freed,” he said in a video posted online and broadcast at a meeting in Tel Aviv in support of the hostages.
“France does not abandon its children,” he added. “That is why we have to resume negotiations again and again for their release.”
About 250 captives were taken by Hamas during their October 7 attack; Israel claims that 132 of them are still in Gaza, with at least 25 of them reportedly dead.
Following the October 7 raid, three French nationals are still missing and are believed to be among the hostages being held in Gaza.
The Franco-Israeli Elya Toledano, who was kidnapped and captured while attending the Supernova festival, a rave party in the desert, was declared dead by the Israeli army on December 15.
Among those freed at the end of November following a truce agreement was her friend, fellow French-Israeli Mia Shem.
Israel claims that in their historic onslaught on October 7, the Hamas attackers killed 1,200 persons, the majority of whom were civilians.
Israel retaliated with a relentless bombing campaign and a ground offensive that the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza said Saturday had killed 23,843 people, mainly women and children.
