The Rwanda-backed armed group M23 vowed Thursday to "continue the march of liberation" to the DR Congo capital Kinshasa, as its fighters made further advances in the mineral-rich east of the country.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has arrived in Congo's capital Kinshasa, an official at the presidency said on Thursday, as Rwanda-backed rebels consolidated control of Goma in the east of the African country.

The scene is the result of the invasion of Goma on January 27th by M23, an armed group under the control of Rwanda, Congo’s neighbour, which abuts the city. Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, has escalated a crisis whose origins go back decades.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday, Netanyahu said in a statement, amid the Gaza ceasefire and a regional diplomatic push.

FRANCE 24's Yinka Oyetade speaks to Dr Alex Vines, head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, about the M23 offensive in eastern DR Congo. He says that the ambitions of the Rwanda-backed M23 differ now from their aims back in 2012,

The Summit is a follow-up of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Organ Troika plus the DRC and Troop Contributing Countries to the SADC Mission in the DRC, which was held on Tuesday, chaired by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation.

Tanzania and Malawi troops are operating in DRC under SAMIDRC, while Burundian troops are in DRC under a bilateral arrangement with the DRC government

Shifting calculations by sponsors of the M23 rebel group risk triggering another war in the Great Lakes Region, underscoring importance of African mediators and global partners acting quickly to stem the fighting.

Anti-Rwandan protests broke out in Kinshasa Tuesday morning, as rebels battled Congolese forces in the key eastern city of Goma.