Portugal and 17 other countries, including the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, have signed a call for the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas, it was announced today.
“We demand the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for more than 200 days. These hostages include citizens of our own countries,” the leaders of 18 countries said in a joint statement released today by the White House.
The declaration was also signed by Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain and Thailand.
According to the document, “the fate of hostages and civilians in the Gaza Strip, protected by international law, is a cause for international concern.”
The leaders say the agreement on the table to release the hostages would ensure an “immediate and lasting ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, which would facilitate the provision of additional humanitarian aid needed in the territory and lead to a “durable cessation of hostilities.”
“Gazans will be able to return to their homes and lands,” they said, after taking measures to provide them with housing and humanitarian assistance.
The joint statement came a day after the Islamist group Hamas released a video showing one of the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, Hersh Goldberg-Paulin, criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for abandoning the hostages.
This Thursday, a senior Hamas political official assured that the Islamic group is ready to go further and conclude a truce with Israel lasting at least five years if an independent Palestinian state is created.
Al-Hayya spoke to The Associated Press as ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip remained stalled.
The attack carried out by Hamas on October 7 in Israel killed 1,170 people, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data.
About 250 people were also kidnapped and taken to Gaza, where Israel says 129 people still remain, including 34 the army already considers dead.
The large-scale retaliatory military operation carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip has already led to the death of more than 34 thousand people.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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