Netanyahu adviser slams Macron for undermining Gaza hostage deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s adviser, Dmitry Gendelman, accused French President Emmanuel Macron of undermining efforts to reach an agreement with Hamas over the Gaza conflict.

In a post on Telegram, Gendelman said Macron gave Hamas a reason to reject the proposed settlement by equating Palestinian hostages held by Hamas with convicted Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel.

“Macron has once again chosen moral blindness over moral leadership. Any statement equating innocent civilians with war criminals is a direct obstacle to negotiations and a gift to terrorists,” Gendelman wrote on his Telegram channel.

He argued that the French president’s comments “gave Hamas a reason to reject the proposals on the table,” thereby “reinforcing the blackmail” by the group.

Gendelman emphasised that on the very day the world saw Evyatar David, a hostage held by Hamas since October 7, 2023, “tortured in an underground prison without medical care, without sunlight, without contact with his family,” Macron equated him with Palestinian terrorists convicted of murder, rape, bus bombings, and attacks on civilians.

“This is not diplomacy, this is a betrayal of the victims,” Gendelman added. He also warned that “it is precisely such words, spoken from the podiums of Europe, that undermine the efforts of mediators [to free hostages] and strengthen extremism.”

By Tamilla Hasanova