The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has denounced “odious and unacceptable blackmail” by Hamas after the Palestinian militant group threatened to execute some of the more than 100 hostages it abducted during its attack on southern Israel, reports The Guardian.
Macron was speaking alongside the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who asserted the “right of Israel to defend itself”.
Macron said: “I hope the next days will allow Israel to put an end to any attack against Israel’s territory and free the hostages.” His timetable is probably shorter than the one mapped out by Israel itself, and may reflect fears in France that Israel’s reaction to the bloody assault by Hamas that has left 900 Israelis dead could lead to a regional conflagration.
“The blackmail by Hamas after its terrorist acts is odious and unacceptable,” Macron told reporters on a visit to Germany.
Macron also condemned the praise of Hamas by the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, and said he was still waiting for intelligence on whether Iran was directly involved in the attack. “I have no comment to make about the direct involvement of Iran for which we have no formal proof, but it’s clear that the public comments by Iranian authorities were unacceptable … and that it is likely that Hamas was offered help,” Macron said.
He also confirmed France did not favour plans to end payments to Palestine by the EU, a proposal unilaterally announced by Olivér Várhelyi, the Hungarian EU commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, but then partly retracted after complaints by a group of countries, as well as the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.