The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council expressed their deep regret at the failure of the Security Council to adopt a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which was submitted by the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria on behalf of the Arab Group, and supported by an overwhelming majority of members of the council. The draft resolution is humanitarian in its content and consistent with international humanitarian law, indicating in this regard that its efforts will continue to work with partners, on all tracks, to ensure reaching an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, in order to spare the blood of our Palestinian brothers in the Strip, to ensure that more humanitarian and relief aid reaches Gaza and to protect civilians.

This came in the statement delivered by Her Excellency Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, before the Security Council regarding the Algerian-Arab draft resolution under the title “Emphasizing the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.” ", at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Her Excellency strongly warned against the increase in the pace of military attacks on our Palestinian brothers, and the doubling of the number of victims, pointing out that their numbers have approached one hundred thousand people, most of whom are women and children, among the dead, injured and missing under the rubble.

She highlighted the miserable conditions in the Gaza Strip, which is considered the worst humanitarian disaster the world has witnessed, explaining that UN reports indicate that there is no safe place in the Strip, and that almost all of its population, which exceeds two million people, have become displaced and vulnerable to famine.

Her Excellency referred to the statements of a number of UN officials who confirmed that they had not witnessed anything similar to the current situation in Gaza, which prompted the Secretary-General to address the Security Council, in accordance with Article Ninety-nine of the Charter, warning of the danger of the collapse of the humanitarian system and public order in the Strip, and calling for an end to Urgent humanitarian shooting, stressing the need to fully implement Security Council resolutions 2712 (2023) and 2720 (2023).

She said that the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli threats related to launching a military operation on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, and warns that these threats portend escalating levels of violence and destabilizing stability and security in the region. It also condemns in the strongest terms the attempts at forced displacement of the civilian population, and categorically rejects any military operation in the city of Rafah, and warns of a new humanitarian catastrophe occurring there, as it has become a final refuge for hundreds of thousands of displaced people inside the Gaza Strip, and its main lifeline, as aid passes through its crossing. Humanity to the sector.

Her Excellency stated that the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council express their deep and deep regret over some donor countries suspending their funding to UNRWA, especially in light of the current serious humanitarian conditions, noting that five million Palestinians depend on the agency, especially in the Gaza Strip.

His Excellency the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations stated that the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council add their voice to the Secretary-General in his appeal to the countries that suspended their support for UNRWA to review their decisions and resume their funding to the agency, so that the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza does not deepen further than it is now, reiterating the group’s firm position. Of the justice of the Palestinian cause, the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, and the establishment of their independent state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Her Excellency expressed the appreciation of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the ongoing negotiating process to reach a framework agreement for a new humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, facilitated by the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States of America, with the aim of releasing prisoners and detainees, and ensuring the arrival of more humanitarian and relief aid to Gaza Strip, and the protection of civilians.

Source and cover image credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar

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Cassandra Pallagud

Content Writer

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