In a joint statement, 18 countries asked this Thursday, the 25th, for the radical Palestinian group Hamas release hostages who have been held captive since October 7, as a path to ending the war with Israel. The joint statement is signed by Germany, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Spain, U.S, France, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, UK, Serbia It is Thailand.
“We call for the immediate release of all Hamas hostages, who have been detained in Gaza for more than 200 days,” the document says. “Among them are our own citizens. The fate of the hostages and population in Gaza, who are protected by international law, is a cause for international concern.”
Still in the text, the signatories highlight that “the agreement on the table for the release of the hostages would allow for an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, which would facilitate the sending of necessary additional humanitarian assistance to the entire Gaza Strip and lead to the end credibility of hostilities.” In this way, “the inhabitants of Gaza could return to their homes and lands, with prior preparations to guarantee shelter and humanitarian provisions”.
The document also “firmly supports ongoing mediation efforts” to allow civilians to return home and focus “efforts on bringing peace and stability to the region. The letter is issued one day after militants released a new video featuring Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, kidnapped at the Universo Paralello rave. He appears with shaved hair, a beard and his left arm amputated.
“I went out looking for entertainment with my friends. Instead, I found myself fighting to survive with severe injuries all over my body,” she recalled, showing her amputated arm. In the almost three-minute video, he asks the Israeli government to help free the hostages.
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Senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters news agency that the statement would not influence the group’s plans. He added that “the ball is now in America’s court,” urging the U.S. to convince Israel — to which President Joe Biden extended “rock-solid and unwavering support” after the Oct. 7 attacks — to end aggression in the Strip. of Gaza.
More than 34,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis have been killed since the conflict broke out six months ago. The United States, Qatar and Egypt are pressing for a pact that allows the release of captives and a new ceasefire. But Israeli spokesman David Mencer said Thursday that Hamas has walked away “from any potential agreement, even though Israel has actually made extreme efforts to try to bring our people home.” The last and only pause in hostilities, held between November and December last year, allowed the release of 105 captives by Hamas and 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
