His Highness the Amir chairs the 44th GCC Summit
His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has chaired today the 44th session of the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Doha. The Summit was attended by Their Majesties and Highnesses, leaders of the GCC countries.
His Highness the Amir began his opening speech by welcoming the members of the delegations participating in the Summit, saying: “I offer you a sincere fraternal greeting and welcome you, dear brothers, to your second country, Qatar, among your kinfolk.”
His Highness the Amir added: “We meet today, hoping that communication and understanding among the leaders will contribute to the development and reinforcement of joint Gulf action in a way that will achieve the interests of our countries and the aspirations of our peoples, underpin the regional and international status of the Gulf Cooperation Council.”
His Highness the Amir continued: “The accelerating international and regional variables necessitate persistent consultation and coordination between us in order to address them, avoid their consequences, and support our Council’s accomplishments in various… fields.”
His Highness the Amir of the State of Qatar also touched on the assault on the Gaza Strip, stressing: “Our summit convenes against the backdrop of unabated grave tragedy and unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe caused by the aggression against the brotherly Palestinian people, particularly our kinfolk in the Gaza Strip.”
His Highness referred to the Qatari mediation efforts, saying: “by the grace and aid of God Almighty, the mediation efforts of the State of Qatar have culminated in concluding a pause in the Gaza Strip, releasing some prisoners and detainees from both the Palestinian and Israeli sides…, [and] we continue to work on extending or renewing [the pause].”
His Highness stressed that the conflict in Palestine is, in its essence, a national issue, and said: “The conflict in Palestine is neither a religious nor an issue of terrorism or war on terror, but rather, fundamentally, a national issue, an issue of conflict between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian people who are reeling under occupation.”
His Highness added: “We will make every effort, in cooperation with our international and regional partners, to [achieve] a comprehensive cessation of Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in all Palestinian territories.”
At the end of the 44th GCC session, His Highness the Amir extended his thanks and appreciation to Their Highnesses and Excellencies, members of the delegations, His Excellency the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and all the General Secretariat’s personnel for their remarkable efforts in this session.