Egyptian daily Al Ahram published a roundup from AFP of international reactions to the hostage deal yesterday. Among others, they include the following:
• UN Secretary-General António Guterres “welcomes the agreement reached by Israel and Hamas, with the mediation of Qatar supported by Egypt and the United States,” a spokesman for the UN chief said in a statement. “This is an important step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done.”
• “We welcome the announcement of the Israel-Hamas agreement for 50 Israeli captives to be released,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X. “My thoughts are with the families, some of whom my WHO colleagues and I met with in recent weeks. We also welcome the four-day pause in fighting that will allow more aid to be safely delivered into Gaza.”
But he added that “this is not enough to end the suffering of civilians” and “that those still in captivity must receive any needed medical care.
“We continue to call for all captives to be released.
“We also continue to call for a ceasefire so that civilians in Gaza can receive sustained, safe, and scaled-up support for recovery.”
• The Turkish Foreign Ministry called the deal “a positive development in terms of easing the bloodshed to some extent.”
“We hope that this humanitarian pause will help to completely end the war as soon as possible and initiate a process towards a just and lasting peace on the basis of a two-state solution,” the ministry said. It urged “full compliance with the agreement,” adding that it should lead to an “increase in the amount of humanitarian aid allowed to enter Gaza.”
