France’s President Emmanuel Macron has told Israel’s leader during a phone call that the suffering of Gazan civilians “must end” and that only a ceasefire in Gaza could free remaining Israeli hostages, AFP reports.

“The ordeal the civilian populations of Gaza are going through must end,” Macron posted on X after the call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He also called for “opening all humanitarian aid crossings” into the besieged Palestinian territory.

Macron said he told Netanyahu that “the release of all hostages” and the “demilitarisation of Hamas” were still an absolute priority for France.

He said he hoped for “a ceasefire, the release of all hostages, humanitarian aid and then finally reopening the prospect of a political two-state solution”.