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Macron Says Determined to Secure Release of French Hostages in Gaza

French President Emmanuel Macron (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron (Reuters)
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Macron Says Determined to Secure Release of French Hostages in Gaza

French President Emmanuel Macron (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday welcomed Hamas freeing a first group of hostages, assuring the families of French captives held in war-torn Gaza of his "determination" to secure their release.

No French nationals were among the first group released on Friday under an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules Gaza, AFP reported.

"I welcome the release of the first group of hostages... Special thoughts for the French hostages and their families. They can count on our determination," Macron said on X, formerly Twitter.

"We remain mobilized alongside the mediators to secure the release of all hostages," he added.

The French government remains "mobilized for the release of French hostages within the framework of the agreement currently being implemented... and we are working tirelessly to obtain that", the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

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China Holds Sea and Air Combat Drills at Disputed Scarborough Shoal

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard stand alert as a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Members of the Philippine Coast Guard stand alert as a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Reuters)
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China Holds Sea and Air Combat Drills at Disputed Scarborough Shoal

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard stand alert as a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Members of the Philippine Coast Guard stand alert as a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Reuters)

China held sea and air combat drills Wednesday at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, an area of reefs and rocks the Philippines also claims in the South China Sea.

On Sunday, China published new baselines for the shoal including geographic coordinates. A nation’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone are typically defined as the distance from the baselines.

“This is a patrol and guard activity carried out by the theater troops in accordance with the law," the People's Liberation Army's southern command said in a short statement.

China seized the shoal, which lies west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, in 2012 and has since restricted access to Filipino fishermen there. A 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court found that most Chinese claims in the South China Sea were invalid but Beijing refuses to abide by it.

Tensions between the two countries have been building over their competing claims to Scarborough Shoal and other outcrops in the sea, and clashes have occurred in the disputed waters including the Chinese coast guard firing water cannons at Filipino ships.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two laws last week reaffirming the extent of his country’s maritime territories and right to resources, including in the South China Sea, in a move that angered China.

China's claims to almost the entire sea overlap with claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and other governments.