French President Emmanuel Macron showed his willingness to coordinate a “common position” between countries that have citizens kidnapped by Hamas in its operation in Israeli territory to achieve their release.
Macron, who appeared before the press in Hamburg with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, at the end of a Franco-German government seminar, did not confirm that there are French people among the hostages.
But he said that the French authorities, who have already confirmed the death of four Frenchmen, are working to clarify the situation of a dozen people who were in Israel and whose whereabouts are unknown, and hinted that some of them could be in the hands of the Palestinian militia.
“We are in very close coordination with the Israeli authorities and we will have to coordinate a common position with the Israeli authorities and with the group of countries that are in our situation,” he said.
He insisted that “the blackmail claimed by Hamas is hateful and unacceptable” and in its support of “Israel’s defense operations.”