Qatar has played a crucial role in securing the release of the hostages taken by Hamas, the foreign minister said, noting that the three Hungarian citizens who have been released could not have gone free without the help of the Gulf country.
“I have now asked my friend Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, the state minister for foreign affairs, for Qatar’s help in freeing the last Hungarian citizen being held hostage,” Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook on Wednesday. “My friend Soltan has assured me that Qatar will carry on with its efforts in the interest of a ceasefire and in securing the release of the hostages”. “We greatly appreciate Qatar’s efforts, as it is clear that the Gaza conflict is giving rise to more and more conflicts and crises in the region, which must be avoided,” he said. “We must pay especially close attention to ensuring that there is no new front between Hezbollah and Israel and that the Red Sea is safe for shipping again,” Szijjártó added. The conflict in the Middle East has been a matter of deep global concern, the minister said, adding that the longer the conflict went on, the greater the threat of escalation would be. The international community must now focus on preventing the conflict from spreading beyond the region and on doing everything possible to free hostages held by Hamas, Szijjártó said.