From the Liveblog of
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Emmanuel Macron says France will work for ‘full implementation’ of Gaza ceasefire
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French President Emmanuel Macron says France intends to work with other nations to ensure “the full implementation” of the Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal.
“All of the hostages must be freed as soon as possible, and the president of the Republic repeats repeated his solidarity with the Israeli people in this regard,” his office adds in a statement.
Macron “is delighted that the Israeli cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement” and “he warmly thanked the Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators who contributed to it,” it says.
Macron spoke Saturday by phone with the families of two French-Israeli hostages still in captivity, Ofer Calderon and Ohad Yahalomi, the statement adds.
The two “have been living for 15 months in an anguish that the entire French nation shares…. Ohad and Ofer are now both on the first list of hostages to be released,” it adds.
Also, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau expresses concerns about the hostages’ health.
“I don’t know in what condition they will return. We don’t know how many are alive or dead and, among the living, in what psychological state we’ll find them in. But the hostages will be progressively released. It’s a good thing,” he tells French broadcaster BFMTV.
The Times of Israel Community.