A number of countries welcomed the Hamas movement’s release of hostages on Friday, in accordance with the temporary truce agreement it reached with Israel. In this context, French President Emmanuel Macron considered the step the beginning of the liberation of French citizens. For his part, US President Joe Biden said that Hamas’s release of the first group of hostages “is only the beginning,” stressing that there are “real opportunities” to extend the truce.
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French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed on Friday the release of the hostages who were released on Friday by Hamas as part of… Armistice agreement with IsraelHe assured the families of the French detainees of his “determination” to secure their release, while the first batch of those released did not include any of his citizens.
Macron said on the X platform, “I welcome the release of the first group of hostages… I am thinking in particular of the French hostages and their families. They can count on our determination.” He added, “We are working together with the mediators to secure the release of all of them.”
US President Joe Biden also considered that Hamas’s release of the first group of hostages it held during its attack on Israel “is only the beginning,” stressing that there are “real opportunities” to extend the four-day truce that entered into force in Gaza.
Biden told reporters while spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, that it is time to work on “renewing” the two-state solution to establish peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also welcomed the release of the first group of hostages held by Hamas, including four German Israelis.
She said in a statement that the German government is “extremely grateful to everyone who contributed to this release,” especially Qatar, Egypt, and the Red Cross, considering that “it is necessary for everyone to respect the agreements concluded and to release other hostages in the coming days.”
Hamas fighters released 24 detainees during the first day of the truce, including 13 Israeli women and children, and ten Thai and Filipino workers, after the sound of gunfire stopped in the Gaza Strip for the first time in seven weeks.
On the other hand, the spokesman for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the release of 39 women and children detained in Israeli prisons.
France 24/AFP
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2023-11-24 21:53:45
