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In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful

First, I am pleased to welcome my colleague, His Excellency Anthony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America, to Doha.

Of course, we have had a series of meetings in the past few weeks in Doha, Washington, and today in Doha. First, I would like to inform our brothers in the media that we have received a response from Hamas regarding the general framework of the parties’ agreement regarding the hostages. The response includes some comments on the framework, but overall it was a positive response. However, given the sensitivity of this stage we cannot go into any details.  

This response invites us to be optimistic, and it has been delivered to the Israeli side.

Today we have met with His Excellency the Secretary and discussed all the developments in the war, especially the unfortunate expansions that we have been witnessing recently and the repercussions of this crisis on the security and stability of the region. In the past few weeks, and in addition to the war on Gaza, we have witnessed various tensions which have spread from the borders of the Strip and the Palestinian territories to surrounding countries in the region, such as Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, as well as in the Red Sea.

I also take this opportunity to express my condolences to His Excellency the Secretary of State on the death of US soldiers in the coalition. We, in the State of Qatar, of course, cannot accept such an act against the work of the coalition in the region.

We have also warned, since the first day of the outbreak of confrontations, of the dangers of expanding the cycle of violence in the region, as the region already suffers from ongoing and chronic crises and conflicts.

We are sad and disheartened to see these fears become a painful reality for us today. This further complicates the situation and jeopardizes the ongoing negotiations to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip.

Therefore, we call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, prevail the voice of wisdom, avoid escalation, not to take decisions that may lead to further bloodshed, and not to harm civilians or the freedom of commercial navigation.

To date, this war has claimed more than 27 thousand lives in the Gaza Strip and left more than 66 thousand wounded and injured, most of them women and children. Therefore, we call on the international community to shoulder its responsibility and impose an immediate ceasefire. The time has come for a firm international position against this devastating war and against any action that would expand the cycle of violence.

I would also like to note in this context that the suspension of support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will have catastrophic consequences, as more than 6 million Palestinians will be deprived of their relief and humanitarian services.

We believe in the importance of the United Nations and the importance of UNRWA and its role, and we must separate the agency as a United Nations institution with established values and traditions from the allegations that have affected a number of its employees who are under investigation. We cannot punish an entire humanitarian agency because of accusations against some of its employees.

We have witnessed the suffering caused by the underfunding of UNRWA over the past years, and we fear that the deplorable humanitarian situation will worsen as a result of further funding cuts to the agency.

Based on our humanitarian responsibility towards the brotherly Palestinian people, we affirm the continuation of Qatari efforts in the field of evacuating the sick and injured from the Gaza Strip and providing relief assistance to the residents of the Strip. In this context, Qatar’s mediation efforts with its regional and international partners have resulted in reaching an agreement to bring medicines to civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially to the most affected areas, and to detainees in the Strip.

In accordance with the directives of His Highness the Amir, to date, to date, 75 Qatari military aircrafts have been sent with more than 2,000 tons of aid, including shelter and food supplies, medical materials and supplies, and two field hospitals. This has been done in cooperation with our partners in the UK, France, Italy and the Organizing Committee of Christian Churches.

More than 600 Palestinians were evacuated from the Gaza Strip, including about 200 sick and injured people to receive treatment in Doha, in fulfillment of our commitment to provide treatment for 1,500 Palestinians injured as a result of the war. In addition, we have sponsored 3 thousand children who lost their parents in Gaza Strip as a result of the war.

It is unfortunate that despite regional and international efforts to calm down, and four months after the outbreak of confrontations, we have all failed to stop the bloodshed and stop the cycle of violence. Hospitals are still being targeted, schools are still being bombed, displaced people are still being killed on the roads of their second and third displacement, and threats still exist.

Your Excellency,

We value our continuous cooperation with the friendly United States in this crisis, with all its security, political and humanitarian dimensions. We also look forward to our efforts, which have been going on for four months, resulting in a ceasefire and contributing to reaching a comprehensive and just solution to stop bloodshed and enhance security and stability in the region.

I would also like to seize this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to you [Secretary Blinken] for your efforts in this regard and to our international partners: the United Nations, Egypt, France, Italy and the United Kingdom for their cooperation with us in various humanitarian and relief fields to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

In conclusion, we look forward, Your Excellency, to continue these discussions between our two countries and to reach a solution and achieve stability in this region; in particular, putting an end to this war and aspiring to achieve a better future for the region.

Thank you.