Qatar continues efforts to stop war in Gaza

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Doha: Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari said Qatar’s role in Gaza continues and communications are ongoing with all parties.

“The statements of the Israeli side are understood to be for political gain. These statements do not concern us and do not affect the efforts of the State of Qatar to mediate to reach a humanitarian calm, and our efforts will continue despite these empty statements,” he said yesterday, addressing a weekly media briefing.

“Qatar will continue its efforts aimed at stopping the war in the Gaza Strip and releasing prisoners. The humanitarian aspect occupies priority in the ongoing negotiations for a new deal.” Al Ansari added, “We look with great concern at the reality of the Palestinian brothers in the northern Gaza Strip, especially in light of the lack of water, food, electricity, and medicines,” referring to Qatar’s call for allowing humanitarian aid into all areas of the Gaza Strip, in light of the unprecedented deterioration of the humanitarian situation.

The MoFA spokesperson said the situation in Rafah is very worrying, especially with the presence of about 1.5 million people there.

He stressed Qatar’s rejection of any military attack on Rafah, as it will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, especially in light of the lack of a safe place in the Strip.

He said Qatar announced the success of its mediation in reuniting a new batch of Ukrainian children with their families. This mediation forms part of Qatar’s ongoing efforts to reunite families separated due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani participated in the Munich Security Conference February 16 to 18, during which he met a number of officials. He also participated in a discussion session at the conference, during which he stressed that the past three weeks had witnessed progress in the negotiations between the two parties (Israel and Hamas), but the last days had not witnessed progress as we expected, due to the differences between the two parties,” Al Ansari said. He said Qatar and the United Kingdom launched a joint financing initiative for international development cooperation and humanitarian response globally. “Qatar also hosted the second meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan, under the auspices of the United Nations.”

He said a plane of Qatari Armed Forces arrived in Al Arish in Egypt, carrying 20 tonnes of aid for the Palestinian brothers, including food supplies, provided by the Qatar Fund for Development and the Qatar Red Crescent.

“A plane belonging to the Qatari Armed Forces, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arrived in Kilimanjaro, in the United Republic of Tanzania, carrying 49 tonnes of aid, including basic food supplies and health supplies provided by Qatar Charity, as part of the State of Qatar’s support for those affected by floods and landslides in northern Tanzania.”