Qatar
Qatar slams rights violations in occupied Palestinian territories
- Calls on international community to ensure accountability for crimes against Palestinian people; OIC foreign ministers condemn Israeli settlement moves
Qatar has called for an end to the protection and support provided to Israel, urging the international community to take all necessary measures to ensure accountability for crimes and human rights violations against the Palestinian people.
The statement was delivered by HE Dr Hind Abdulrahman al-Muftah, Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, during an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s remarks on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.
The session was held as part of the 61st regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
HE al-Muftah said the world was witnessing daily scenes of grave crimes and violations committed by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the occupied territories and the Gaza Strip. She cited killings, starvation, mass forced displacement, the suffering of women and children, and the targeting of civilian facilities, schools, hospitals and journalists, as well as the destruction and confiscation of property, arbitrary arrests and torture.
She also referred to policies of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, saying the situation had reached an unprecedented level of severity and had rendered Gaza uninhabitable, in violation of international law.
The State of Qatar urged the international community to move beyond "double standards” and assume its legal and moral responsibilities to protect the Palestinian people, end the Israeli occupation and advance the peace process. It reiterated support for the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign state on the June 4, 1967 borders.
Meanwhile, foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC), at a meeting in Jeddah yesterday, condemned Israel’s recent settlement expansion and what they described as illegal annexation measures in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In a final statement, ministers rejected steps aimed at altering the status of Palestinian territory and denounced remarks by US ambassador Mike Huckabee, as well as a US Embassy decision to provide consular services to settlers.
The OIC called for advancing the next phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, securing a permanent Gaza ceasefire, full Israeli withdrawal, and unrestricted humanitarian access. The ministers reaffirmed support for
Palestinian reconstruction and the territorial unity of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
They also voiced concern over rising regional tensions, including threats against Iran, while welcoming renewed diplomacy between Tehran and Washington.