Shock and discretion have prevailed in recent days, but the hostage crisis weighs on European governments keen to obtain their release, without making it a source of tension with Israel. Thursday, October 12 in the evening, in his televised speech, Emmanuel Macron committed to “do everything possible” to save French nationals kidnapped during the Hamas offensive. Seventeen French people are still ” missing “ and maybe “held hostage”, declared the president, his tone serious. He also specified, without giving further details, that “negotiation channels” had been established by France to work for their liberation.
While Germany has asked Qatar to act as mediator, the head of state has until now been content to highlight the coordination work carried out with Israel in order to identify, case by case, the victims and the missing, seeming to let the government of Benjamin Netanyahu set the order of priorities to carry out its response against Hamas. “France is doing everything possible alongside the Israeli authorities and with our partners to bring them back safe and sound”however, assured the French president on Thursday when families of hostages had earlier asked him, from Tel Aviv, to intervene to save their loved ones probably held in the Gaza Strip.
The question was addressed during the day during consultations organized at the Elysée with the various leaders of the parties represented in Parliament. ” I trust (…) to the French authorities to do everything possible to ensure that all the hostages are released”, commented the president of the Les Républicains party, Eric Ciotti, at the end of the discussions. The anti-terrorism prosecution also announced that it had opened an investigation into the French victims.
Berlin welcomes Qatar’s “humanitarian efforts”
In Germany, Olaf Scholz was also forced to discuss the fate of the hostages on Thursday, with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim Ben Hamad Al-Thani, visiting Berlin. The Chancellor welcomed the “humanitarian efforts” deployed by the emirate to try to free people kidnapped by Hamas, said German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit after the meeting. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had indicated the day before that Doha and other capitals in the region “ must play an important role because they have communication channels that we do not have” with Hamas. According to the latest information, at least five German nationals are among the approximately 150 hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
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