PHNOM PENH: Former Prime Minister Hun Sen took to his Telegram channel to make suggestions about the violence in Israel and Gaza over the last month. On November 7, the former PM called for a ceasefire saying that otherwise, “Gaza will become the world's large massacre site.”

The last time he spoke publicly on the issue was to tell Cambodian students stuck in the battle zone not to “abandon the people of Israel” three days after a Cambodian veterinary student was killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7.

He interpreted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying "there will be no ceasefire without the release of hostages,” as a step towards a ceasefire if Hamas agrees to release the hostages.

The former PM called on the Secretary-General of the UN and all stakeholders to begin negotiations, starting with the release of hostages by Hamas and Israel’s pledge of ceasefire when hostages are released. He told Hamas, “to release the hostages in exchange for a ceasefire that will benefit the lives of all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

Among the estimated 239 hostages being held, Hamas says that more than 60 were missing in the rubble of Israeli airstrikes, which have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians over the last month.