The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, will be in Paris on Tuesday and Wednesday for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss in particular the negotiations to obtain a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. This will be the Qatari emir’s first state visit to the French capital since his accession to the throne in 2013, the Élysée said.
“Qatar is particularly working on the release of the hostages which is a priority for us”, argues the presidency while three French people are still held hostage in the Gaza Strip, since the unprecedented attack by the Islamist movement Palestinian Hamas on Israel on October 7.
The discussions will also focus on “ongoing efforts to obtain a ceasefire (…) and enable massive aid to be provided to the Gazan population”. Qatar welcomes the political leadership of Hamas on its soil and is working with the United States and Egypt to try to obtain an end to the fighting with Israel. A one-week truce at the end of November allowed the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for that of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
A new humanitarian operation
Furthermore, according to the French presidency, a new humanitarian operation with Qatar “should take place in the coming days” with several flights transporting in particular ten ambulances, more than 300 tents and humanitarian cargo for the population of Gaza. Doha announced early last week that medicines sent to Gaza as part of an agreement negotiated in January by Doha and Paris had finally reached hostages held by Hamas.
Discussions will also focus on the post-war period. President Macron called for a “decisive and irreversible push to implement a two-state solution, the only viable solution for ending the crisis,” recalled the Élysée.
Round tables must at the same time be organized on economic partnership and strategic investment projects, the same source indicated.