Qatar''s successful diplomacy brought truce: FM

(MENAFN - The Peninsula) Qatar played an active role in reaching the ceasefire between Palestine and Israel through successful diplomacy by bringing all the stakeholders to the negotiation table, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Qatar had initiated its diplomatic move with the start of Israeli aggression at Al Quds and rest of the Palestinian territories, especially the provocative activities of the Israeli settlers and evacuation of Sheikh Al Jarrah neighborhood,” said H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani during an interview with Al Araby TV. He said that Qatar repeatedly gave messages to stop the provocative activities which triggered war between the two sides. ''To stop the conflict, we communicated with countries around the world including our allies in the US and other friendly nations. There was also political and diplomatic move from Arab countries to hold a ministerial meeting of the Arab League chaired by Qatar,” said the Minister. Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the meeting resulted in the formation of an Arab committee to look into this issue, series of events in Palestine and to send the recommendations to the UN Security Council. ''There was also continuous coordination with regional partners and countries concerned with this issue especially Jordan and Egypt,” said the Minister. He said that Qatar also communicated with Hamas and other factions in Gaza and Palestinian National Authority to find a solution for de-escalation of tensions with the support of Egypt. ''Recently, a number of initiatives were proposed but unfortunately there was no cooperation from Israeli side. Then an initiative from Egypt was presented which was accepted by both parties.” ''We communicated with Palestinian factions in Gaza encouraging them to accept the initiative, as a step to de-escalate the tension,” said the Minister. He said that there was no specific conditions to accept the initiative. The initiative was aimed at agreeing to the ceasefire and bringing peace in West Bank and Al Quds. ''The Palestinian factions worried that stopping shelling could lead to more provocative activities by Israel in Al Quds which could trigger war once again,” said the Minister. Regarding a permanent solution which safeguards the rights of Palestinians, he said that the issue of fair and permanent solution for Palestine is what the international partners are trying to achieve. ''The current solution is temporary. As long as Israeli provocative activities will continue against Palestinians breaching international resolutions, more violence and war could erupt,” said the Minister. He said that the blockade on Gaza is still continuing which should not be ignored. ''There is fall back from international community on encouraging the parties to return once again to the negotiation table. There is lack of comprehensive vision for peace process,” said the Minister. Moreover, he said, there was Arab Peace initiative which was agreed by all Arab countries and it provides a basis to engage two countries to find a solution to settle the dispute,” said the Minister. Replying to a question about the fair solution to this conflict, the Minister said: ''From our point of view, Arab Peace Initiative and international resolutions are the available solutions. Any changes in this initiative should be with the consensus of the parties.” He said that Qatar communicated with Israel related to Gaza issue and the communication continued for humanitarian projects being implemented by Qatar. During tensions, there was communication with both parties- Palestinian fractions and Israel. Meanwhile, in a separate interview with MSNBC TV, the Minister said: ''We see there is a sense of urgency to make sure that we are safeguarding this peace deal by stopping the provocation, allowing the Palestinian people, Muslims and Christians to practice their worship without any provocation, stop the eviction of the people who are living in Sheikh Jarrah neigbhourhood and address the damages in Gaza because of the war and bombing of Israel.” He said that Qatar is also making sure that humanitarian assistance is delivered as soon as possible, to the people who are in need of it. To a question about Qatar’s pledge to give $500m to rebuild Gaza’s infrastructure for humanitarian works, he said: ''We need to acknowledge that the Palestinian people are not only Hamas, we cannot reduce the Palestinian people living under occupation and consolidate them to just one group. ''In Qatar, we are providing our assistance for aid or for the reconstruction in the past 10 years in very tight process making sure that the projects are delivered and humanitarian assistance is delivered,” said the Minister. He said for example for the projects of reconstruction, Qatar has build over the last 10 years, 42,000 housing units, hospitals, road, H a m a d H o s p i t a l f o r rehabilitation. Qatar has been a trusted mediator, the Minister said: ''We have done trusted mediations in the region. Our relation with different parties ensures the stability and security of our region, whether it's with Hamas or Taliban.MENAFN28052021000063011010ID1102159695