5 December 2023; MEMO: Qatar’s emir today called on the UN Security Council to force Israel to return to the negotiating table over the war on Gaza, saying the inaction by the international community in halting the conflict was “shameful”, Reuters reports.
“It is shameful for the international community to allow this heinous crime to continue for nearly two months, during which the systematic and deliberate killing of innocent civilians continues, including women and children,” Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani said in a speech to Gulf leaders gathered in the Qatari capital Doha for a regional summit.
Qatar has been leading negotiations between the Palestinian resistance and Israel. The talks led to a truce that ultimately lasted for seven days before Israel returned to bombing Gaza on Friday. During the truce, Hamas released dozens of prisoners of war held in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and Israel allowed humanitarian aid to flow into the coastal Strip.
Sheikh Tamim said Qatar was working with both sides to repair the deal.
“We are constantly working to renew [the truce] and to alleviate the burden of our people in the Gaza Strip, but truces are not an alternative for a comprehensive ceasefire,” he said.
In the eight weeks since Israel launched its genocidal bombing campaign in Gaza, at least 15,899 Palestinians have been killed, 70 per cent of them women or children.
