Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari expressed his regret that the situation in Gaza has reached a stage where condemnations cannot keep up with the number of daily Israeli crimes and massacres.
In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press briefing, Dr. Al Ansari said the international community should be ashamed of itself amid the relentless horrific war over more than a year.
He reiterated the State of Qatar’s clear position on the Israeli occupation’s ongoing crimes against civilian assets, hospitals, schools, and the displaced, as well as its starvation and siege on northern Gaza. He added that these crimes coincide with the targeting of Lebanon, where over 2,700 people have so far been martyred, and villages and towns that were teeming with life a few days ago have been systematically devastated. Dr. Al Ansari said the crimes clearly indicate the lack of respect for international human rights law and its value in this war.
He stressed that Qatar would
press on its unwavering role to end this crisis by keeping this mediation and communication channels open, and supporting all regional and international efforts aimed at ending this crisis and stopping the bloodshed despite all the challenges and the field reality that casts a dark shadow over these negotiations.
Regarding the extent of the impact of the Israeli entity’s assassinations and targeting of UN offices on the negotiation efforts, Dr. Al Ansari stressed that every escalation on the ground complicates the success of mediation, indicating that it is not possible to negotiate successfully with a party that targets and assassinates the other whenever possible.
He commended the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)’s important role in helping millions not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Dr. Al Ansari warned that stopping support for UNRWA would have disastrous consequences, as would preventing it from operating in the
Palestinian territories, with the agency providing relief services for more than six million Palestinians. He highlighted Qatar’s $100 million pledge for UNRWA to provide humanitarian aid in the Strip, based on Doha’s belief in the UNRWA great and vital role and the support it provides to the Gaza Strip.
He stressed the need for the international community to take action and not remain silent in the face of this disregard for its international institutions and the attack on UN officials, whether the declaration of the UN Secretary-General as a persona non grata, the continued hostility towards UNRWA whose primary goal is the relief and employment of Palestinian refugees, or the continued targeting of relief workers and UN workers.
It is mandatory to take a clear position to confirm that international community institutions were still internationally respected and able to carry out their work, with the support of the various world powers, he added.
Dr. Al Ansari refuted accusations related to Qatar’s mediat
ion of the war on Gaza, saying that these reports have not stopped since the first day. Qatar pays no attention to such baseless accusations and the negative treatment of its important mediation role. Qatar is not concerned with any reports that contradict reality and do not communicate directly with the mediators – the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States of America, he added.
Dr. Al Ansari stressed in this respect that the Qatari role has been ongoing since the first day, and the mediators ultimate goal is to bring the viewpoints of the parties to the conflict closer together.
He pointed out that Qatari diplomacy is working to de-escalate in Lebanon, in parallel with ending the war in the Gaza Strip, highlighting Qatari officials’ many daily contacts and approaches to invest in every opportunity through which coordination can be made with mediators in these issues.
He indicated that Qatar will spare no effort to reach a permanent solution to this issue, which is a permanent ce
asefire and justice for the Palestinian brothers, by bringing viewpoints closer together and reaching a common language between the negotiators.
At the outset of the briefing, Dr. Al Ansari detailed the efforts and activities of MOFA officials, including a meeting HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani held earlier on Tuesday with HE Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, Lounes Magramane. On Thursday, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs will meet with HE Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh.
In the same context, Dr. Al Ansari spoke about HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs’ meeting and joint press conference with HE US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and His Excellency’s phone conversation with HE Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi.
Aligned with these efforts were HE Mi
nister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al Khulaifi’s participation in the International Conference in Support of Lebanon’s People and Sovereignty in Paris, and HE Minister of State for International Cooperation Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater’s meeting with HE Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, and her participation in Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of Ukraine’s 10-Point Peace Formula, due in Ottawa, Canada on Wednesday.
Dr. Al Ansari recalled the State of Qatar’s condemnation statements on the storming of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, the killing of journalists in the war on Lebanon, the targeting of Iranian sites by the Israeli entity, as well as a condemnation statement on the terrorist attack on a Turkish military industry company.
He also pointed out that the State of Qatar has completed a humanitarian air bridge to Lebanon by sending a relief plane carrying 23 tons and evacuating 207 Lebanese people who hold
Qatari residency permits, with another plane set to arrive Thursday at Rafic Hariri Airport carrying humanitarian and medical aid.
Source: Qatar News Agency
