Doha / Information Office / October 12

The State of Qatar expressed its strong condemnation of the brutal repression and the use of live bullets by the Israeli occupying forces against the ongoing Great March of Return protests on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip, which led to the martyrdom of six Palestinians and injuries to dozens more.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the Israeli escalation was a violation of international laws and conventions, calling on the international community and the UN Security Council to assume their responsibility in containing the Israeli war machine and its collective punishment policy directed against the Palestinian people. The statement also called on the international community to provide protection for the innocent civilians.

The statement also highlighted the State of Qatar's firm support to the Palestinian cause and the struggle of the Palestinian people in order to guarantee the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with the 1967 borders and Jerusalem as its capital. It also stressed the right of refugees to return to their lands.