Former Lebanese MP Nasser Kandil: The Nine Hamas-Held French Hostages Must Be Excluded From Any Foreign-Nationals Release Deal; They Must Be Kept As A Bargaining Chip In Order To Secure The Release Of Georges Abdallah, Who Serves Life Sentence In France For Killing A U.S. Official And An Israeli Diplomat

Former Lebanese MP Nasser Kandil said on an October 25, 2023 show on NBN TV (Lebanon) that he calls upon Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades not to release the nine French hostages they are holding. He said that Hamas should only release them in exchange for Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese who is serving prison time in France for his involvement in the assassinations of an American official and an Israeli diplomat in France in 1982.

Kandil: "France supports Israel? No. Macron supports Israel. I called upon the Al-Qassam Brigades leaders and told them that if they decide to release the foreign hostages with nothing in return, they should exclude the nine French [hostages], because we want to get [convicted terrorist] Georges Abdallah for them. That heroic Lebanese resistance fighter shot the Israeli diplomat for the sake of Palestine.

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"I sent a direct message to the Hamas leadership, and I am repeating it on this blessed platform: Please, please, please… Macron said yesterday that there are nine [French] hostages. Do not give a single hostage. Exclude the French hostages from the deal. This is at least what we hope for, as partners [of Hamas], so that Georges Abdallah is released in exchange for the French hostages."