Qatar has been a vocal supporter of Palestinian people’s right to live in peace in their own independent state on the basis of 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. Doha has also been an active participant in the regional and global efforts to put an end to violence and Israeli aggression against Palestinians.
Qatar has also welcomed the decision by Australia’s government to reverse the previous government’s recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Doha said the move would support international efforts aimed at achieving a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed Qatar’s aspiration for similar decisions by other states that recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in line with the international consensus and resolutions of international legitimacy. It warned against unilateral steps that could undermine the principle of a two-state solution to the conflict.
Speaking in Istanbul along with his Turkish counterpart last weekend, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stressed that international law is indivisible and applies to occupation in Palestine in the same way it applies to Ukraine.
Qatar has also highlighted how the occupying authorities are exploiting natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in other occupied Arab territories, and continue to obstruct Palestinians’ access to their resources and property, in addition to their attempts to annex lands, demolish homes and displace Palestinians, damaging their agricultural land and orchards and uprooting fruit trees.
Doha has also been contributing to humanitarian efforts to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians. Qatar has strengthened its support for UNRWA, including its educational programme, and the Qatar Fund for Development continues to provide support to the agency, which contributes to enhancing its capacity in order to provide life-saving health and education services for Palestinian refugees. In the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade and suffered heavily from Israeli shelling, contributions made by Qatar over the past decade through the Qatar Fund for Development and the Qatar Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza exceeded $1.5bn, in addition to the contributions made by civil society institutions.
2022 has been one of the deadliest years for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank with almost daily raids by Israeli forces leading to violent confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli troops, who have killed around 100 Palestinians so far this year.
