HH The Amir Participates in the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit

His Highness The Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani took part, with Their Majesties, Highnesses, and Excellencies Heads of State and delegations, in the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit, which was held at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center in Riyadh today.

The summit was attended by HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani along with Their Excellencies members of the official delegation accompanying HH The Amir, Their Royal Highnesses the Princes, Their Highnesses and Excellencies members of participating delegations, representatives of regional and international organizations, and guests of the summit.

HH The Amir delivered a speech as follows:

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Your Majesties, Highnesses and Excellencies,
May Peace, Mercy and Blessings of God be upon you,

At the beginning, I extend my thanks for the blessed efforts of the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and His Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for this summit, which comes at a crucial time in the history of our region.
Our summit is being convened today while our Palestinian brothers in the Gaza Strip are bearing the brunt of the atrocities of the Israeli war machine in a way beyond human tolerance. The international community has failed to shoulder its legal and moral responsibilities and take whatever action necessary to stop war crimes and massacres committed in the name of self-defence, and to put an end to this war of aggression.
As our hearts break with pain at the sight of the mass killing of children, women, and the elderly, and the human suffering, we wonder how long will the international community continue to treat Israel as if it is above international law, and how long will it be condoned to flout all international laws in its brutal, never-ending war on the country’s indigenous population?

What is happening in Gaza constitutes a threat at every level, and even at the level of wars of aggression there are precedents which are being recorded. How did bombing hospitals become a normal thing? At first it is denied and the victims are accused, then it is justified by the existence of tunnels underneath these places, then it becomes something that does not need to be justified after feelings become blunted and eyes become acclimated to seeing tragedies. These are unparalleled things. We found in this war or before it, during the siege of Gaza, a noticeable increase in the levels of immunity among some countries that claim to protect international law and the world order. We have seen their immunity to the scenes of indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians, whether children or women, as well as the bombing of hospitals and shelters, no longer affecting them, and their levels of immunity have reached the point of seeing the bodies of innocent people being eaten by dogs, and these countries do not do anything. Glory be to God, the strength of immunity is only against our Palestinian brothers.
By allowing their justification, the international system fails itself before it fails us. Who would have imagined that hospitals would be openly bombed in the twenty-first century, and that entire families would be erased from the records by the indiscriminate bombing of residential neighbourhoods and refugee camps, and that an entire people would be forcibly displaced with deplored and unacceptable plans to displace them. All this unfolds in full view of the world. This is coupled with blatant racist statements by Israeli leaders that are not denounced by their allied countries’ leaders.

The State of Qatar is unflinching in its historical position in support of the steadfastness of the brotherly Palestinian people and their just cause. We continue, with our partners in the region and the international community, to provide humanitarian aid and work to expedite its delivery to those in need, despite continuous Israeli intransigence to hinder it. In this regard, we demand that safe humanitarian corridors be permanently opened to allow for an unhindered and unconditional delivery of aid to those affected and afflicted. We categorically reject the use of arbitrariness in providing humanitarian aid and threatening to bomb it as a means of pressure and political extorsion. We stress the need to make this aid accessible to all parts of the Gaza Strip. This is the weakest level of faith, and the least that we can all do.
We are also continuing to support all regional and international diplomatic efforts for de-escalation, stemming the bloodshed, and protecting civilians, including making efforts in humanitarian mediation to release the hostages. We hope to reach a humanitarian truce in the near future to spare the Strip from further worsening of the humanitarian catastrophe that has befallen it.

We reiterate our firm position to condemn all forms of targeting civilians, regardless of their ethnic, religious or national background. We also condemn in the strongest possible terms the targeting of health and educational facilities and justify this with groundless allegations. In this context, we demand that the United Nations send international teams to immediately investigate the Israeli allegations and claims used to justify the bombing of hospitals, although there is no justification for such a crime.

Honourable audience,

You all know the position and feelings of our people regarding what is happening, and there is no need to elaborate on the matter. Difference over this or that issue should not be a justification for disagreement over taking a firm stance vis-a-vis the ongoing crime in Gaza, nor should we be satisfied with denunciation and condemnation statements. Rather, we must take deterrent steps to stop the ongoing war crime, in a way that will also project the weight and leverage of Islamic states. Israel's continuation of its aggression and committing crimes of genocide with such recklessness will not harm only Arab and Islamic national security, but also the national security of our countries.
In conclusion, we stress that the only sustainable solution to this issue is the one that establishes the foundations of justice in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, and this is the solution that the international community have called for, and which we adhere to out of our conviction  in the right of the Palestinian people to enjoy goodness and well-being and the right to self-determination concerning its independent state. And because we believe that the Israeli plans in the aftermath of this criminal war are a repetition of its colonial policies that have thwarted all peace initiatives and even agreements and led to all these crises. The basic thing is that it refuses to recognize the rights of the Palestinian people, and only thinks about security arrangements while continuing the colonialist mentality and its practices towards the indigenous people. The international community's failure to oblige Israel to stop the ongoing crime during our meeting is a license to continue this disastrous approach.

May Peace, Mercy and Blessings of God be upon you,