US, 17 other countries urge Hamas to release hostages, end Gaza crisis

The United States and 17 other countries, on Thursday, issued an appeal for Hamas to release sick, elderly and wounded hostages as a pathway to end the crisis in Gaza, Reuters reports.

“We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza now for over 200 days,” a statement by the countries said, in what a senior US official called an extraordinary display of unanimity.

The 18 countries all have citizens held by Hamas, six months after the Palestinian group launched its 7 October assault on southern Israel and killed 1,200 people.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

The signatories were the leaders of the United States, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand and Britain.

“We emphasise that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza, and lead to the credible end of hostilities,” the statement said.

A senior US official, briefing reporters about the statement, said there were some indications that there might be an avenue for an agreement on the hostage crisis, but that he was not totally confident.

He did not elaborate but said the resolution was dependent on “one guy”, Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar.

READ: US assesses Israel killed, injured over 80,000 Palestinians in Gaza by end of 2023