Prime Minister (PM) James Marape has urged Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave assurance to stop the attacks if all hostages are released.

Prime Minister Marape’s call come as various nations opted to recognize Palestine as a State in a move to urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop attacking and killing innocent civilians in Gaza.

At the United Nations General Assembly, Marape commended Israel’s Netanyahu for his public statement indicating Israel would stop its attacks if all hostages were released.

“You cannot get any clearer than this,” Prime Minister Marape said, adding that once hostages are released, friends of Israel, including Papua New Guinea, stand ready to help facilitate dialogue toward long-term solutions.

The Prime Minister emphasized that peace must be “born from within,” drawing a parallel to Papua New Guinea’s own experience of laying down arms, sitting together, and forging political solutions through dialogue. He called for all sides to engage “not at the back of gun firing, but at the table of peace.”

“If Hamas is genuinely concerned for its people, the way to stop the suffering is clear: release the hostages. This will create the conditions to pause the fighting and allow mediation to chart a political pathway forward,” Prime Minister Marape said.

He confirmed that he briefly met Prime Minister Netanyahu following the latter’s UN address and signaled PNG’s willingness— alongside other friends of Israel— to assist in convening and supporting mediated talks.