Qatar has been at the forefront of initiatives to support the Palestinian people in their just struggle for a free, independent state with Jerusalem as its capital within the framework of international legitimacy and relevant Security Council resolutions. Qatar has also been one of the most vocal proponent of the Palestinian cause at all international forums.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani met a delegation of the League of Parliamentarians for Al Quds, and discussed the Palestinian issue with them. The League has thanked Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for Qatar’s support to the Palestinian people.
Qatar and many other countries have condemned storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque by extremist groups. The Israeli occupation authorities must stop allowing these groups to carry out provocative acts at the sacred places. These provocative acts are allowed even as the occupation authorities routinely restrict Palestinians’ access to the Al Aqsa Mosque.
Occupation authorities have also killed a number of Palestinians in recent months, including Al Jazeera journalist Abu Akleh, who was shot dead, by Israeli firing according to most accounts, while covering a raid by Israeli troops in Jenin in the occupied West Bank last month.
Israeli occupation claimed another Palestinian life yesterday, this time a 31-year-old woman, who was reportedly shot by Israeli troops near Al Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron in the West Bank. Palestinian health officials and locals said the victim was shot in chest while crossing a checkpoint at the entrance of the camp. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said the Israeli forces impeded medics from reaching the injured woman, and handed her over to medics around 20 minutes after she was shot.
On May 29, the occupation authorities allowed and facilitated the storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound by hundreds of Israeli nationalists as they held the ‘flag march’ to commemorate the occupation of the eastern part of the city of Jerusalem in 1967. These provocative acts hurt the sentiments of not only Palestinians but also all Arabs and Muslims.
The world has ignored the plight of the Palestinian people for too long. It is time the international community ensured implementation of international laws and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to live freely in their own homes and their own country. Israel must also be held accountable for its brutalities against the civilian population.
