France’s President Emmanuel Macron called Saturday for fresh talks for the release of the hostages held by Hamas 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.”
During its October 7 attack, Hamas seized about 250 hostages, 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza, including at least 25 believed to have been killed.
Three French citizens remain unaccounted for following the October 7 attack and are thought to be among the hostages held in Gaza.
On December 15, the Israeli army announced the death of Franco-Israeli Elya Toledano, who was captured and abducted while attending a desert rave party called the Supernova festival.
His friend, fellow French-Israeli Mia Shem, was among those released under a truce agreement at the end of November.
Israel says the Hamas attackers killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in their unprecedented attack on October 7.
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.