Qatar pledges to promote reconciliation, UN calls for humanitarian ceasefire

The Security Council has voted on a draft resolution proposed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

On December 10, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced that his country will continue mediation efforts to promote a new ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Hamas Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip.

Thủ tướng Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. (Nguồn: AFP)

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. (Source: AFP)

Speaking at the Doha Forum 2023 international conference in Qatar, Prime Minister Al Thani said Qatar and its partner countries are stepping up efforts to continue securing a ceasefire and hostage release in the Gaza Strip. However, he expressed concern that continued fighting in the coastal strip was "casting a shadow" over the prospects of reaching an agreement.

Along with Egypt and the United States, Qatar is a key mediator in the Hamas-Israel conflict, contributing significantly to the 7-day ceasefire agreement (from November 24) in the Gaza Strip. After this ceasefire agreement expired, Israel resumed shelling and airstrikes on Gaza.

A humanitarian ceasefire was also the call made by United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his speech at this year's Doha Forum.

At the annual event, he warned that the current geostrategic divide is undermining efforts to reach a solution to the Hamas-Israel conflict. The head of the world's largest multilateral institution stressed: "We are facing the risk of a collapse of the humanitarian assistance system in the Gaza Strip. The situation is deteriorating rapidly and risks turning into a disaster with irreversible impacts on the Palestinian people and on peace and security in the region."

Secretary-General Guterres' call came as the UN Security Council (UNSC) voted on a draft resolution proposed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on December 8, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Of the 15 members of the UNSC, 13 voted in favor. The US vetoed the draft, while the UK abstained.

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