Qatar slams Israel’s systemic ‘inhuman’ treatment of Palestinians
Qatar has affirmed that the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, occupied since 1967, which details arbitrary arrests, torture, and inhuman treatment perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people through detention centres and ongoing campaigns of mass killing, forced displacement, deprivation and destruction of the foundations of life, has become a structural feature of the ongoing Israeli genocide and the broader settler-colonial apartheid regime, stressing that it is a grave violation of international law, a war crime and a stain on humanity. This came in the statement delivered by HE the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva Dr Hend bint Abdalrahman al-Muftah during the interactive dialogue with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Item 7, within the framework of the 61st session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. She said that these crimes against children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and women, and the methods of torture used, including starvation, beatings, insults, death threats, assault, cruel and inhuman treatment, denial of healthcare, and obstruction of legal assistance, cannot be ignored or tolerated by the international community. **media[429015]** Dr al-Muftah said it is imperative to ensure all those responsible for these crimes and violations committed against the Palestinian people are held accountable. She stressed that what the Israeli occupation aims for in terms of physically humiliating the Palestinians, destroying their psychological well-being, and undermining their ability to collectively resist, has not and will not succeed. Dr al-Muftah added that the Palestinians will continue their resistance to the occupation until they regain all their legitimate rights, foremost among them the right to self-determination and the establishment of their fully sovereign independent state on the borders of June 4, 1967.She thanked UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her report, which expressed condemnation of the Israeli authorities’ refusal to allow her access to the occupied Palestinian territories. On Monday Dr al-Muftah read out a statement that Qatar affirmed its support for efforts aimed at strengthening humanitarian responses, stressing the importance of consolidating international solidarity in sharing responsibilities amid unprecedented rise in refugees and displaced persons. The statement was delivered during a briefing for UN Member States on the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East, with a focus on Lebanon, organised by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva. Dr al-Muftah stressed that addressing the root causes of conflicts remains the basis for any sustainable response, and that investing in peace, conflict prevention and promoting inclusive dialogue is an urgent necessity to create the conditions for a safe return and to achieve stability. She noted that the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) announced that it would provide urgent humanitarian support to those affected in Lebanon, where it provides urgent relief intervention through its partners, Qatar Charity and the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), with the aim of providing urgent humanitarian assistance to more than 40,000 displaced and affected families, through the distribution of food baskets and basic materials.She urged the international community to assume its responsibilities and provide sufficient support to refugees and their host communities, in order to ensure an effective and sustainable response.