Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi at the Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of OIC in Jeddah yesterday.
Jeddah: Qatar took part yesterday in the Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to consider the continuing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, convened in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, led Qatar’s delegation to the session. In Qatar’s statements before the session, he said the Palestinian cause remains central for the Islamic nation, which grapples today with dire challenges and threats, triggering this emergency convention amid the unprecedented escalation of the Israeli aggression against the brotherly Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
Over a million humans face systematic starvation crimes and a tight blockade, amid the announcement of an Israeli plan to militarily take over the entire Gaza Strip to impose a new forced reality that reconsolidates the occupation in unconscionable breach of international law and resolutions of international legitimacy, Al Muraikhi added.
He stressed that Qatar confirms its flat-out rejection and condemnation of all the Israeli unlawful practices, in terms of any attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their territories whether in Gaza, the West Bank, or the occupied Jerusalem, along with the policies Israel pursues to expand settlement, and cautions against the menacing consequences of these kinds of policies and plans on regional and global security.
Al Muraikhi reiterated Qatar’s condemnation of the latest crime to displace the Palestinian journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in killing six of them, among them five who were working for Al Jazeera network.
It is no doubt that targeting media practitioners represents an egregious violation of international humanitarian law and a deliberate attempt to muzzle the voice of truth, which, at the end of the day, exposes the Israeli occupation’s crimes, he underlined.
Al Muraikhi further expressed Qatar’s strong condemnation of the assaults on medical personnel and paramedics who operate in profoundly tough humanitarian conditions to save lives, since this move constitutes a double crime against humanity that requires holding the perpetrators to account and ensuring full protection for those medical practitioners.
The unabating Israeli military transgressions and disregard for humanitarian and legal principles are emboldened by inaction on the part of the international community to uphold its responsibilities and encourage impunity, he underlined.
Accordingly, he said, there is a desperate need for immediate and effective international action to bring the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the entire occupied Palestinian territories to an end, lift the unjust blockade imposed on Gaza immediately, allow the unhindered and unconditional flow of humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, and fuel, ensure protection for civilians and infrastructure, and enable relief organisations to undertake their duties based on international humanitarian law.
In addition, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs reaffirmed Qatar’s undertaking to diligently continue its efforts alongside Egypt and the United States to reach a lasting ceasefire, ensure the release of hostages and prisoners as a springboard for a serious political path toward the two-state solution.
Finally, he added that Qatar reiterates its commendation and welcome of the decisions taken by the nations that declared their recognition of the Palestinian statehood, as positive steps that align with international legitimacy and support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to have their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
