Qatar hosted the 44th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Doha yesterday. The summit serves as a platform for Gulf nations to discuss and coordinate matters of mutual interest, fostering cooperation in different areas like economy, security, and culture. The GCC summit helps strengthen the unity among member states and promotes stability in the region.
While this year’s summit talked about advancing digital transformation and artificial intelligence, as well as enhancing political, economic, developmental, security, and military cooperation and coordination priorities among other things, the main topic of discussion was the current instability in the region due to the deadly and barbaric attack by the Israeli occupational forces on innocent civilians including women and children in Gaza Strip.
At the inauguration of the summit, Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, welcoming Their Majesties, Their Highnesses, leaders and heads of delegations of GCC countries, drew attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in occupied Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip, where crimes against humanity are being committed. He called out the inaction of the international community against the genocidal crimes committed by Israel saying it is disgraceful to allow such systematic killing of civilians to happen.
“It is disgraceful for the international community to allow this heinous crime to go on for nearly two months, during which a systematic and deliberate killing of innocent defenceless civilians, including women and children, continued,” H H the Amir said in his speech.
Reiterating Qatar’s commitment to bring peace to the region H H the Amir called for a comprehensive cease-fire and urged the security council to take action to end this barbaric war and to achieve a just solution to the Palestinian issue.
“The conflict in Palestine is neither a religious nor an issue of terrorism or war on terror, but rather, fundamentally, a national issue, an issue of conflict between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian people who are reeling under occupation. It is an issue of settler colonialism that refuses to integrate into the region by reaching a compromise solution - a relatively fair solution with the indigenous people” he said.
Qatar, along with Egypt and the US, has been trying to mediate with all parties and even managed a pause to the deadly attacks during which hostages and prisoners were exchanged and aid was allowed to enter the besieged Gaza. H H the Amir affirmed the adherent support toward the brotherly Palestinian people in establishing their independent state and stressed the need to provide them protection as per the provisions of international humanitarian law.
