Qatar and the UAE – Visit by Catherine Colonna (5 November 2023)

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna will visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on November 5 to discuss the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as well as the regional situation, with her Qatari counterparts, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

This visit reflects the close diplomatic cooperation that France maintains with its main partners in the Middle East. The purpose of these regional consultations is to arrive at an immediate, lasting, sustained humanitarian truce; to organize the humanitarian response to the needs of Gaza’s civilian population; to work resolutely and decisively to ensure that the conflict does not spread; and to determine how to rebuild momentum for a just and lasting resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict based on the two-state solution. The latter is a necessary prerequisite for long-term peace and stability in the Middle East, a concern France shares with its regional partners.

The minister will also discuss the situation of the hostages that Hamas is holding in Gaza and will reiterate France’s demand for the immediate release of all hostages kidnapped on October 7 during Hamas’s terrorist attack against Israel.