French President Emmanuel Macron, during his visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, urged Israel on Tuesday to refrain from escalating the ongoing conflict with Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip.
Macron made these remarks during his meeting with Israeli President Yitzhak Hertzog, emphasizing that France is in contact with Hezbollah, the Lebanese political and military organization, in an attempt to mediate and prevent further escalation.
The French President stressed that the top priority for any Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip should be the release of all hostages held by the Hamas movement.
Hospitals in Gaza have reported an increase in the death toll due to the ongoing Israeli aggression in the region, which has lasted for 18 days, reaching a total of 5,087 casualties.
The Israeli military claims that there are 222 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. According to official Israeli statistics, approximately 1,400 Israelis have been killed since the outbreak of the recent violence, known as the “Temple Mount crisis,” which began on October 7th of this year. This casualty count has remained unchanged since last Saturday.
