HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas politburo chief Khalid Mishal in Doha yesterday.

HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas politburo chief Khalid Mishal.

During the meeting, held at Al-Bahar Palace, they discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip, especially the ongoing Israeli aggression and the need for moves on various levels to halt it and end the siege clamped on Gaza, as well as on ways to attain all demands of the Palestinian people. 

They also discussed moves to obtain a United Nations resolution that would define a timetable for the end of Israel’s occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in accordance with the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.

HH the Emir underlined during the meeting that the State of Qatar would continue its support for Gaza and its steadfastness against occupation.

He stressed that there was no change in Qatar’s firm stance towards the Palestinian cause in order to achieve its legitimate demands.

Also yesterday, HH the Emir spoke by phone to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to discuss efforts to stop Israel’s aggression on Gaza and the lifting of the blockade.

They also exchanged views on moves to issue a UN resolution that ends the occupation and achieves the demands of the Palestinian people in establishing their independent state based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Meanwhile, HE Foreign Minister Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah has received a telephone call from US Secretary of State John Kerry. They discussed the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the regional and international efforts regarding the issue.

The escalating bloodshed has seen another 76 Palestinians die in Gaza  since hostilities resumed on Tuesday after the collapse of truce talks and nine days of calm.

At least 2,092 Palestinians have been killed since July 8, of whom the UN has identified 70% as civilians, and 68 people have died on the Israeli side, all but four of them soldiers.

In Israel, the barrage of Palestinian rockets and mortar fire claimed its fourth civilian victim of the six-week war - a boy killed at home after shrapnel pierced the wall in a southern community.

Israel said it struck more than 30 targets in Gaza since midnight as upwards of 70 rockets and mortar rounds hit Israel during the same period.

Another nine rockets were shot down, an army spokeswoman said.

In Gaza City late yesterday, a powerful Israeli air strike levelled a house, wounding 40 Palestinians.

Witnesses said a drone fired two rockets at the two-storey property before an F16 warplane dropped a large bomb.

Emergency services told AFP that 40 people from the building and neighbouring buildings were wounded in the strike.

A witness at the site said the family had evacuated the building before the attack and that the injured came from neighbouring homes.

On Thursday, Britain, France and Germany put forward key points of a new UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire, and the lifting of Israel’s blockade.

Diplomats said the text was aimed at advancing efforts to reach agreement within the 15-member council after a draft resolution from Jordan met with resistance, notably from the US.

Washington has wielded its veto powers at the Security Council repeatedly in the past on behalf of Israel, although the now 46-day war has strained relations between the allies.

The new resolution proposes a mechanism to monitor the ceasefire and supervise the movement of goods into Gaza to allay Israeli security concerns.

 

 

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