UPDATE - Gaza Strip not Israeli security issue: Qatar’s emir

By Yakout Dandashi

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS

ISTANBUL (AA) - Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said on Tuesday that the Gaza Strip is not an Israeli security matter.

This came in his opening speech at the 44th summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held in the Qatari capital, Doha.

“The challenge does not lie in resolving the Gaza issue as if it were a separate or Israeli security matter that requires security arrangements that subject the strip to its requirements,” the emir said.

“The solution rather lies in ending the (Israeli) occupation and resolving the issue of the Palestinian people,” he added.

The emir labeled it shameful the international inaction to the ongoing Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

“It is shameful for the international community to allow this heinous crime to continue for nearly two months, during which a systematic and intentional killing of innocent, defenseless civilians continue, including women and children,” he said.

“It is unfortunate that, despite the extent of the crime being exposed and the outbreak of popular protests all over the world, some official circles are still overwhelming the Palestinian people's demand for a cease-fire,” Tamim said.

The Qatari ruler called on the United Nations to “conduct an international investigation into the massacres committed by the occupation authorities against the Palestinian people.”

The emir also expressed his confidence that the GCC countries “can reach understanding and cooperation, which would contribute to resolving some regional issues and achieve the interests of the GCC countries and the aspirations of its people.”

The GCC summit is held amid relentless Israeli air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. At least 15,899 Palestinians have been killed and more than 42,000 others injured ever since, according to health authorities in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.

Forty-three Gulf summits have been held since the establishment of the GCC in 1981.

The Gulf bloc is composed of Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat in Ankara