Minister of State for International Cooperation H E Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad at the conference.
Cairo: Qatar participated in the Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance the Humanitarian Response in Gaza, which was held yesterday, under the title “A Year Since the Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza: Urgent Needs, Lasting Solutions.” Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani led Qatar’s delegation at the conference.
In her speech before the conference, Minister of State for International Cooperation H E Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad reiterated Qatar’s firm stance in supporting efforts aimed at delivering humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip. She noted that Qatar has worked over the past period, in coordination with the relevant United Nations agencies, Egypt, and Jordan to implement various humanitarian initiatives to deliver aid to the Palestinian people, despite the great and increasing challenges facing the international relief and humanitarian effort.
She indicated that after more than a year since the brutal war on the Gaza Strip and the continued suffering of the Palestinian people in the Strip, and despite the persistent and tireless mediation efforts undertaken by Qatar, Egypt, and the US, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached unprecedented levels of deterioration of living conditions, leading to a severe shortage of food, medicine, and basic life necessities.
She added that the suffering of the people of Gaza continues to worsen as the aggression continues to destroy residential neighbourhoods, health, and educational facilities, infrastructure, and shelters for the displaced people.
She stressed that this tragic situation calls for urgent action to open humanitarian corridors without restrictions or conditions, and to expedite the entry of relief supplies to avoid the loss of more lives, especially among children, the sick, and the elderly.
She pointed out that Qatar has recently launched an air bridge to send humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, based on its firm and principled commitment to support the Palestinian brethren, and in accordance with the directives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
In this regard, she indicated that around 100 Qatari aircraft carried urgent relief aid, including food and medicine, to the Gaza Strip, and returned carrying a number of orphaned, sick, and injured children to complete their treatment in Doha, after Qatar undertook to treat 1,500 injured people and sponsor 3,000 orphans from the Strip. She also referred to Qatar’s announcement last September of a pledge of $100m to be allocated to the humanitarian response in Palestine, in addition to a previous pledge of $50m, in addition to Qatar’s continued support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and the provision of around $4.5m in cash assistance to workers and patients in the Gaza Strip currently stranded in the occupied West Bank.
She reiterated Qatar’s emphasis on the importance of supporting the mandate granted to the UNRWA in accordance with General Assembly Resolution No. 302, stressing the right of Palestinian refugees to return, which is guaranteed by General Assembly Resolution No. 194 and Security Council Resolution No. 237. She urged all countries to enhance their support for UNRWA to face the increasing challenges.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for International Cooperation participated yesterday in an Arab consultative meeting, along with prime ministers, foreign ministers and ministers of state from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Palestine, along with representative of Oman, representative of the Arab League, and representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance the Humanitarian Response in Gaza. The meeting discussed key regional developments, particularly the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, and the importance of de-escalation and working to restore calm in the region was emphasised by reaching a comprehensive and immediate ceasefire in Gaza, accelerating the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, in addition to confronting attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause, annex the West Bank and displace the people of Gaza. The meeting also discussed developments in Lebanon and Syria.
Participants in the meeting expressed their hope that the ceasefire in Lebanon would represent the beginning of restoring calm and stability, and stressed the importance of continuing coordination and consultation in order to avoid the risks facing the region, in a way that would contribute to restoring regional peace and security.
