Qatar's Emir calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza, renews country's readiness to mediate

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called on Friday for an immediate ceasefire to end the bloodshed and humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, reiterating his country's readiness to mediate in this regard.

This came in a message read on his behalf by Qatar's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and International Organizations in Vienna, Jassim Al Hammadi, during the annual celebration held by the United Nations Office in Vienna on the occasion of the "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People", on Friday.

In his message, excerpts of which were reported by the Qatar News Agency on Saturday, the Emir of Qatar stressed that “violence does not achieve peace, security and stability for anyone, and that a just, comprehensive and lasting peace will only be achieved through the implementation of international legitimacy resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative, and on the basis of the principle of the two-state solution, and the establishment of an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

He said, "Solidarity with the Palestinian people is particularly important this year in light of the collective punishment and war of extermination that this oppressed people (in the Gaza Strip) is being subjected to, which does not spare civilians, their homes, infrastructure, schools, universities, places of worship, and hospitals."

The Emir of Qatar referred to the "indescribable humanitarian consequences of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, which led to the widespread destruction of its cities and villages, and which extended to the West Bank and then to brotherly Lebanon." He considered that the solidarity required with the Palestinian people today in light of this is primarily represented in "rejecting the injustice (to which they are subjected), and adhering to the right of this people to a dignified life on their land and their right to self-determination."