Sébastien Lecornu must meet the Prime Minister and the Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs. The country acts as a mediator in the region for the release of hostages held by Hamas.
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According to information from franceinfo, Sébastien Lecornu, the Minister of the Armed Forces, is making a surprise visit to Qatar on Saturday November 18 where he is to meet the Prime Minister and the Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs, the second visit in 48 hours to the emirate organized at the last minute from Israel.
Qatar has been mediating in the region for the release of hostages held by Hamas since October 7 and the start of the war with Israel. Saturday morning, Sébastien Lecornu is due to meet Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed ben Abderrahmane Al-Thani. He is the one who leads the exchanges on the hostages.
The fate of the hostages still remains uncertain
Friday in Tel Aviv, the French Minister of the Armed Forces had a series of meetings with Israeli defense officials after having spoken at length with several families of hostages.
The question of a ceasefire or a humanitarian truce still arises. And 40 days after the outbreak of the conflict, the fate of the hostages still remains uncertain.
According to information from franceinfo, the humanitarian aspect will also be addressed once again this Saturday, this time during a final stage in Egypt. With this tour by Sébastien Lecornu, France intends to demonstrate that it is investing as much as possible. Emmanuel Macron was still insisting these days that the release of the hostages was the priority. It is therefore impossible to envisage failure.
Sébastien Lecornu has been on a diplomatic mission to the Middle East since Tuesday at the request of Emmanuel Macron. The Minister of the Armed Forces met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in Egypt, before stopping off in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.