French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged the 700-day mark since the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7 and called for the release of the remaining 48 hostages in a X/Twitter post on Friday.
"700 days. 700 days without their loved ones. 700 days in degrading conditions of detention," he wrote. "I call for the immediate release of all hostages still held by Hamas. Barbarism and suffering have lasted far too long."
Macron wrote the post in four different languages: English, French, Hebrew, and Arabic.
No point in visiting Israel?
Macron's post comes one day after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar told his French counterpart that there is no point for Macron to visit the Jewish state due to France persisting "in its initiative and efforts that harm Israel's interests."
Sa'ar was referring to France's plans to recognize a Palestinian state.
Macron called a US decision not to grant visas to Palestinian officials ahead of the UN General Assembly unacceptable on a social media post earlier on Tuesday.
He also said in a post that he and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will co-chair a Conference on the Two-State Solution in New York on September 22.
Last month, the French leader sent another letter to Netanyahu to warn that Israel risks losing a “historic opportunity” for peace if it continues with its military campaign in Gaza and its settlement policies in the West Bank.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.