Concerted Pressure Needed For Ceasefire In Gaza: PM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Irfan Bukhari | The Peninsula

Doha: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has said that confronting current challenges requires intensifying regional and international efforts to exert continued pressure for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“The regional challenges that surround our region and the world require us to make diligent efforts to confront their effects at the political, security and economic levels, and on top of those challenges is what we are witnessing in the continuation of the Israeli aggression against Gaza for 8 months, which represents a turning point in the history of the Middle East region and the world.

"We still witness the inability of the international community to stop this barbaric war that resulted in the death of more than 36,000 people and the injury of thousands of our Palestinian brothers as a result of the brutal Israeli aggression,” the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs further said.

H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said this in his opening address while chairing yesterday the 160th ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), held in Doha.

On the sidelines of the Gulf ministerial meeting, two separate joint ministerial meetings were held between the GCC countries, with each of the Republic of Turkiye and the Republic of Yemen.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that confronting these challenges requires intensifying regional and international efforts to exert continued pressure for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as“it is the nucleus from which the rest of the crises resulted, most notably the tensions we are witnessing in the Red Sea.”.

“To avoid these dangers that await us all, the State of Qatar has worked since last October alongside its regional and international partners to achieve a permanent ceasefire and contain the crisis, to prevent the opening of other firefronts in the region.”

He added:“We seek by all efforts and means to ensure security and stability in the region, and we affirm the firm position of the State of Qatar on the justice of the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, and the establishment of its independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

GCC countries, with their solid capabilities, he said, are capable of overcoming such challenges amid this bleak picture of the regional and global situation.

"The member countries are distinguished by their stature and strategic importance at the regional and international levels, and this is embodied in the cooperation and constructive consultation that have been achieved to activate partnerships with friendly countries and other regional and international groups.” He said that the GCC countries have worked tirelessly to strengthen strategic relations and dialogues in the political, security, economic and commercial fields, in addition to various environmental and development fields.

“These policies were evident in the Gulf Cooperation Council's vision for regional security, which was adopted by the Ministerial Council last December in Doha and included an action plan to strengthen collective security and safety, and seek to calm tensions in the region.” The 160th GCC Ministerial Council meeting in Doha yesterday confirmed the keenness of the GCC countries and their aspirations to achieve fruitful achievements and outcomes to advance joint Gulf action, to achieve greater cooperation and strategic and developmental integration between the sister GCC countries.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs began his speech by congratulating Their Majesties and Highnesses, leaders of the GCC countries, on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of the founding of the GCC council, under their leadership and wise guidance, which aspires to achieve the aspirations of Gulf countries and peoples.

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