Although France has announced plans to recognise a Palestinian state, President Emmanuel Macron said his country will not open an embassy in Palestine until Hamas frees the remaining captives in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

Macron said the release of captives will be “a requirement very clearly before opening, for instance, an embassy in Palestine”.

Macron also expressed strong opposition to any potential Israeli efforts to displace Palestinians from Gaza.

“But if the precondition of such a plan is to push them out, this is just a craziness,” Macron said.

“We should not be — for the credibility of the United States, for the credibility of France — we cannot be implicitly or explicitly complacent with such a project.”