France's Macron sees hope for hostages in Gaza after Qatari mediation

By John Irish

PARIS (Reuters) - France's President Emmanuel Macron on Friday welcomed the release of two American hostages in Gaza, highlighting Qatar's role and saying he hoped similar initiatives would happen in the coming days, including for French nationals.

The armed wing of Hamas released two Americans on Friday, who Israel said were en route to a military base in central Israel to be reunited with family.

Thirty French citizens were killed on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants launched an attack into Israel and seven are still missing. One appeared in a video published by Hamas, but the fate of the other six remains unknown.

"For the other six there is a presumption of hostage taking but without certainty. We have elements that we have cross-checked with the Israeli services and authorities," Macron told a small group of reporters on Friday.

He said Paris was holding discussions with Israel and other contacts, notably Qatar, which he said had given him hope that they would be able to free the maximum number of hostages.

After holding talks with several regional leaders on Friday, including the Saudi crown prince, Qatar emir, Egyptian president and Israeli prime minister, Macron said he was sending his foreign minister to a summit in Egypt on Saturday.

French medical aid would be sent in the coming hours to join Egyptian efforts backed by the United States to bring supplies into Gaza, Macron said.

Unlike some of his Western partners Macron has yet to go to the region and he said he would do so at a later stage if he felt it could help defuse tensions.

"I am trying to obtain useful elements for the region from Israel and neighbouring countries which will make it possible to build a lasting peace, that is to say elements which will ensure the security of Israel, the fight against terrorist groups, which will avoid the escalation of the conflict and which will allow the resumption of a political process," he said.

Macron said he was also focusing on trying to avoid an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel and messages had been passed on the Lebanese side.

"There is a situation of tension which is extremely worrying in any case and poses a great risk to the entire region," he said. "We warn everyone, we are doing everything to avoid escalation but the security situation remains by definition unstable because it is at a very high level of tension and pressure."

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Chris Reese and Jonathan Oatis)