Qatar calls for economic uplift of Palestinians at UN meeting
Qatar has stressed the need to address the humanitarian and economic situation of the Palestinian people to overcome the challenges they are facing, pointing out to its quest to restore security and stability through diplomatic moves in coordination with the UN and brotherly and friendly countries to address the urgent humanitarian and economic conditions to achieve the Palestinian people’s stability.
This came in a statement delivered by HE Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the UN ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani, before the official meeting held by the UN Security Council on the ‘Situation in the Middle East, Including the Question of Palestine’.
The statement said Qatar is aware of the need to maintain stability and address the pressing humanitarian and economic conditions, therefore it made initiatives to enhance relief, humanitarian and developmental support which it has been providing for the benefit of the brotherly Palestinian people, noting that His Highness the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani directed the allocation of a grant of $500mn for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
It indicated that the United Nations had launched last September a cash assistance programme for about 100,000 needy families in the Gaza Strip with a $40mn grant from Qatar over four months. In this context, Qatar affirmed that it will continue to support the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), praising its great efforts and stressing that these efforts are indispensable as long as the refugee issue remains to exist.
The statement underlined Qatar’s keenness to participate in the quarterly open debates of the UN Security Council, in the context of its belief in the importance of the responsibility entrusted to the
Security Council in addressing the challenges facing peace and security in the Middle East, in accordance with its mandate. It also stressed that the Middle East issue is still on the council’s agenda despite it has been considering it for many decades.
It said that the recent Israeli violations in East Jerusalem, which included repeated attacks by the occupying power authorities and settlers on Islamic and Christian holy sites, especially the holy Al Haram Al Sharif, and attempts to seize and demolish Palestinians’ properties and to displace them and unlawfully annex their lands, are part of the policies of Judaisation and illegal settlement, in violation of United Nations resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 2334.
The statement added: “The military escalation in the Gaza Strip, which has caused the loss of hundreds of lives, including innocent children, and the exacerbation of the deteriorating humanitarian situation of 2mn civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip, is contrary to international humanitarian law.”
It reiterated Qatar’s assertion that the final solution to this situation will only be achieved on the basis of the international law, resolutions of the international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, leading to ending the occupation of all occupied Arab lands and settlement in the occupied territories, solving the refugee problem, and the Palestinians’ enjoyment of their inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to the vision of the two-state solution, agreed upon by the international community as the only way out of this conflict. Qatar has stressed the need to maintain ceasefire at present.
With regard to the Syrian crisis, the statement said that “ten years after the Syrian crisis, the State of Qatar continues to affirm that ending this crisis requires a political solution in accordance with the Geneva-1 Declaration and the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 2254.” It stressed the importance of ensuring accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of chemical weapons.
Meanwhile the statement pointed out that Qatar continues to provide humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of the brotherly Syrian people, as it announced this year a new pledge of $100mn at the Brussels conference on ‘Supporting the future of Syria and the region’. With regard to Libya, the statement stressed the need to consolidate the progress achieved in the security, political and economic aspects, and to proceed with a Libyan-led political process with the support of the United Nations, in order to reach a sustainable settlement for the benefit of the Libyan people.
The statement called for the provision of assistance to the Interim Unity Government to carry out its duties of unifying state institutions, hold elections in a free, fair and comprehensive manner on the set date and provide basic services and economic and social development for the brotherly Libyan people. On the Yemeni issue, Qatar reiterated its firm position keen on the unity and territorial integrity of that country, underlining that the only way out of the crisis is through negotiation between the Yemeni parties on the basis of the outcomes of the national dialogue, the Gulf initiative and relevant Security Council resolutions, especially Resolution 2216.