French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that Hamas showed "inhumanity without bounds" by releasing videos of two emaciated Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza. The European Union, Germany and Ukraine have also condemned the publication of the images.
Hamas and its Islamic Jihad ally have recently released three clips showing captives Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, who were seized during the 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war.
"Abject cruelty, inhumanity without bounds: this is what Hamas represents," said the French head of state of the "unbearable images".
"The absolute priority for France is the immediate release of all the hostages," he added on social media platform X.
In the footage shared by the Palestinian Islamist groups, 21-year-old Braslavski, a German-Israeli, and 24-year-old David both appear weak and malnourished.
The footage of David showed him digging what he said in the staged video was his own grave, triggering particular outrage.
Hamas 'must be disarmed'
France Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Saturday also denounced the videos as "despicable".
"Despicable, unbearable images of the Israeli hostages held for 666 days in Gaza by Hamas," Barrot wrote in a post on social media platform X.
"They must be freed, without conditions," he added. "Hamas must be disarmed and excluded from ruling Gaza."
He also called for massive humanitarian aid to be supplied to the people of Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a "famine is unfolding".
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Macron, who has said France will recognise a Palestinian state in September, promised to "work without respite" for "the re-establishment without delay of a ceasefire, and to allow the mass delivery of humanitarian aid, still blocked at the gates of Gaza".
But he also argued that Hamas must have no part ruling coastal strip once the war ends.
"We must have the total demilitarisation of Hamas, its complete exclusion from any form of governance and the recognition of Israel by the state of Palestine," he said.
49 hostages remaining
Besides Macron, the European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, also condemned the videos as showing Hamas's "barbarity", insisting the Islamist militants disarm and release the dozens of hostages it still keeps in captivity.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga added his voice to the outrage, insisting that "Hamas's inhuman treatment of the Israeli hostages deserves a very strong condemnation".
"People in Gaza should not remain suffering because of Hamas's heinous crimes. It must lay down its arms and release all hostages immediately," Sybiga added on X.
In an interview with the Bild newspaper, Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz insisted the videos "show that Hamas should no longer a play a role in the future of Gaza".
But Merz called on Israel not to "respond to Hamas's cynicism" by halting humanitarian aid to the besieged territory.
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Braslavski and David are among 49 hostages taken during Hamas's 2023 attack still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Most of the 251 hostages seized in the attack have been released, some in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.
Tens of thousands of people had rallied in the coastal hub of Tel Aviv on Saturday to urge Netanyahu's government to secure the release of the remaining captives.
No respite in fighting
A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office late Saturday said he had spoken with the families of the two hostages and "expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organisations".
Netanyahu "told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing", the statement added.
Israel's top general has warned that there would be no respite in fighting if the hostages were not released.
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"I estimate that in the coming days we will know whether we can reach an agreement for the release of our hostages," armed forces chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said in a statement on Saturday, referring to ceasefire talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar which broke down last month.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday met the families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
After a meeting with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv, the organisation released a statement saying Witkoff had given them a personal commitment that he and US President Donald Trump would work to return the remaining hostages.
Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,430 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers those figures to be reliable.
(with AFP)
