The United States and 17 other countries on Thursday issued an appeal for Hamas to release all of its hostages as a pathway to end the crisis in Gaza.
"We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza now for over 200 days," a statement by the countries said, in what a senior U.S. official called an extraordinary display of unanimity.
The 18 countries all have citizens held by Hamas six months after the Palestinian militant group launched its Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel and killed 1,200 people. Hamas is believed to still be holding 129 hostages out of the 253 it took on Oct. 7.
The signatories were the leaders of the United States, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand and Britain.
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