During her statement at the UN, Sheikha Alya emphasised the need to guarantee Palestinian self-determination, establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Qatar said recognition of the Nakba — the mass displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 — is essential to achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue.
The statement was delivered by Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, during a special UN meeting marking the 78th anniversary of the Nakba in New York.
Sheikha Alya emphasised the importance of adopting General Assembly Resolution 79/82, noting that Qatar was among its sponsors, reiterating that recognition of the Nakba is essential to achieving a just, comprehensive, and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause.
The Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe” refers to the systematic dispossession and displacement of Palestinians between 1947 and 1949, when Zionist paramilitary groups captured towns and villages in what became the state of Israel.
Historians estimate that around 750,000 Palestinians — roughly one-third of the population at the time — were forced from their homes, with more than 400 villages and urban neighbourhoods depopulated or destroyed to make way for Israeli settlers.
Hundreds of thousands of those expelled and their descendants now live in refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and across the region, including Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Many still preserve keys, deeds and documents to homes in what is today Israel, passing them down through generations as symbols of their displacement and of a future return.
During her statement at the UN Committee, Sheikha Alya reaffirmed Qatar’s commitment that the names of all Palestinian child martyrs will not be forgotten, describing them as ‘victims of a continuing Nakba, whose suffering cannot be ignored by the international community.’
In this context, she renewed Qatar’s condemnation of Israel’s illegal decisions concerning the West Bank, including reclassifying Palestinian land as so-called “state land” of Israel.
She highlighted Qatar’s condemnation of accelerating settlement activity, enacting a law allowing the death penalty in the West Bank, and restricting freedom of worship for Muslims and Christians in occupied Jerusalem.
Regarding the Gaza Strip, Sheikha Alya stressed Qatar’s insistence on full implementation of the ceasefire agreement, opening crossings to ensure sustainable and unobstructed humanitarian aid.
She emphasised the need to guarantee Palestinian self-determination, establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and to end occupation and settlement activities.
With this, she also noted the need to halt Israel’s illegal practices in occupied territories and ensure the right of return for Palestinian refugees in accordance with international law.
Concluding, Sheikha Alya also stressed Qatar’s ongoing commitment to politically, diplomatically, and financially support UNRWA in fulfilling its mandate to serve the Palestinian people, in line with General Assembly Resolution 302 (IV).
