The Qatari diplomat stressed that he would like to see a united stance for such causes, noting that regional issues remain unaddressed.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has called out the double standards approach in addressing the war in Ukraine and the Israeli occupation of Palestine, urging global action to end aggressions against Palestinians.

Speaking at a panel at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Tuesday, the foreign minister pointed to the ongoing instability in the Middle East which he said has been “suffering for decades”.

The discussion placed great emphasis on the ongoing Russian war on Ukraine and its global impact with panellists analysing ways to bring it to an end.

“When we are looking at the world mobilising only for specific cases and specific causes and we’ve been in the Middle East suffering for decades from all violations for UN Charters, including from the Palestinian-Israeli issue to the Syrian issue,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

The Qatari diplomat stressed that he would like to see a united stance for such causes, noting that regional issues remain unaddressed. Sheikh Mohammed also highlighted the Gulf region’s efforts in voting for resolutions against aggression between two countries.

“There is a very big concern now among the region with what’s happening in Palestine with all these provocative policies. We would like to see a real stand from our allies and partners also to stop the Israeli government from taking such actions,” he said.

The Gulf state is among various nations that have expressed their vocal rejection of Israel’s ongoing violations against Palestinians, repeatedly condemning its daily attacks in Palestine.

Qatar has also maintained its unwavering stance with regards to normalising ties with Israel, unlike some countries in the region including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Double standards in UN votes

Several western countries came under fire at the United Nations last month during a vote on a resolution seeking the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) opinion on the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

Countries that abstained or voted against the resolution were slammed for their double standards, given their different approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Besides the US, which pumps billions into Israel’s economy, the United Kingdom and Germany voted against the resolution.

“Shameful: Almost every Western gov that congratulated Netanyahu on forming Israel’s most far-right, racist, homophobic gov has abstained or voted against the UNGA resolution requesting the International Court of Justice’s opinion on the [illegality] of Israel’s occupation!” Muhammad Shehada, Chief of Comms at Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, said last month.

One social media user also said the vote exposed the western nations’ double standards when it comes to Palestine.

“Palestine has won the right of ICJ in the UN vote but has exposed the western nations like US, UK, Germany, Hungary, Romania and their double standards on Humans right for Ukraine but tried to deny the same for Palestinians. Western hypocrisy is exposed again,” the Twitter user said.

Qatar’s stance on Ukraine war

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Qatar held various phone calls with the leaders of both countries while calling for calm.

In March last year, Sheikh Mohammed travelled to Moscow where he met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

In a joint press conference with Lavrov at the time, the Qatari foreign minister condemned “everything to the contrary” of the UN Charter.

Qatar also called for the need to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity in October last year following Russia’s announced annexation of 15% of the country.

The Gulf state placed great emphasis on the “necessity of respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and pursuing dialogue as a way to resolve the crisis.”

During the same month, Qatar joined 143 countries to vote on a UN resolution rejecting Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories on Wednesday, as the conflict continued to escalate.

“The resolution ‘defending the principles’ of the UN Charter, notes that the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia are temporarily occupied by Russia as a result of aggression,” said the UN in a statement at the time.