France hopes Israel-Hamas truce lasts until all hostages freed, says foreign minister

PARIS, Nov 27 — France hopes the four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war lasts until the Palestinian militant group frees all hostages, its foreign minister said on Sunday, adding to growing calls for an extension.

Hamas on Sunday released a third group of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a ceasefire that began on Friday following almost seven weeks of fighting triggered by the group’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel.

But Israel has vowed to continue the war after the truce, which began on Friday, expires in its stated mission to destroy Hamas.

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US President Joe Biden is among those urging for an extension of the truce, with Hamas holding many other hostages and as Gaza suffers a dire humanitarian crisis following weeks of Israeli bombardment and siege.

“We demand the release of our hostages and all the hostages. It would be good, helpful and necessary for the truce to be extended to this end,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told BFMTV.

No French captives have been freed yet, but Colonna said she had “good hope” that would change.

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“There are lists drawn up during the negotiations through Qatar,” but “Hamas makes its choices within these lists,” she said.

Israeli officials say Hamas took around 240 hostages and killed around 1,200 people on October 7, mostly civilians, in the deadliest attack in the country’s history.

The devastating Israeli military response has killed nearly 15,000 people in Gaza, mainly civilians and thousands of them children, according to the territory’s Hamas authorities.

A source close to Hamas said the Islamist movement was willing to extend the current truce for up to four days beyond its initial expiry date. — AFP