French president says Hamas response must be ‘followed up without delay’
Emmanuel Macron says the release of Israeli captives and a Gaza ceasefire “are within reach”.
“We now have the opportunity to make decisive progress towards peace,” the French president wrote in a social media post, thanking Trump for his efforts.
“France will play its full part in line with its efforts at the United Nations, alongside the United States, Israelis and Palestinians, and all of its international partners,” Macron said.
The release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach!
Hamas' commitment must be followed up without delay.
We now have the opportunity to make decisive progress towards peace.
France will play its full part…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 3, 2025
Progress being made on Gaza deal but details need to be ironed out
That’s according to Yossi Mekelberg, a senior fellow with the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House.
Mekelberg told Al Jazeera that what Trump’s Gaza plan has always been missing are details.
“So now we’re getting to the stage that both sides will have to discuss the details,” he said. “If President Trump can put the pressure on both of them, together with the other mediators, then they can make some progress.”
‘Real, tangible’ pressure from US needed for Israeli withdrawal
The main challenge for the international community in implementing a Gaza peace plan will be “ambiguity” on Israel’s part, not Hamas’s, an analyst has told Al Jazeera.
“Hamas is almost not an actor anymore. Gaza is demolished, they’ve killed all of the military leaders, they’ve killed all of the negotiators,” Natasha Hall, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera.
“The issue for the United States and the international community is how much patience [they are] going to have for dealing with the other points of this plan, which are actually really essential for ending the war,” Hall continued.
Presuming Hamas fulfils its commitment to returning all remaining captives, “Netanyahu has lost all his opposition within Israel and can continue the war”, a promise he has made in both English and Hebrew to far-right audiences, Hall said.
Such promises, she added, make it difficult to surmise whether the plan is feasible without “real, tangible” US pressure for an Israeli withdrawal.
