Qatar’s legislators have also renewed calls for a ceasefire in the Strip and for the full and legitimate rights of Palestinians to be reinstated.
Qatar’s Shura Council hailed the interim International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling against Israel as highlighting the magnitude of Israel’s crimes committed in Gaza.
During a meeting held on Monday at Tamim bin Hamad Hall at the Council’s headquarters under the chairmanship of Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim – the Council’s Speaker, legislators began by discussing the ICJ’s ruling which found a ‘plausible risk’ of Israel having committed genocide in Gaza.
According to a Qatar News Agency report, the verdict and subsequent emergency measures to impede the genocide were praised by Qatar’s legislators as “an overt indication of the magnitude of the tribulation and brutal crimes Israel is perpetrating in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.”
On Friday, the World Court ordered Israel to cease killing Palestinian civilians as well as stop causing serious bodily or mental harm.
Although the ruling stopped short of calling for an outright ceasefire, Monday’s Shura Council meeting saw the legislators call for an immediate halt in Israel’s aggression against Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Palestine’s Health Ministry reports that since October 7, the aggressor’s air, land and sea offensives have killed at least 26,637 Palestinians in Gaza. A further 65,387 people have been left injured.
The Shura Council, in line with Qatar’s foreign mediation policy – which is geared towards ensuring peace in the region – stands unwavering in its commitment to the Palestinian liberation cause.
According to QNA, the Council believes that the full and legitimate rights of Palestinians can only be upheld with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
‘UNRWA cuts contradict ICJ ruling’ – MSF
Echoing the Shura Council’s sentiment, on Monday, Doctors without Borders (MSF) published a communique which called for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza.
However, given the worsening humanitarian crises Palestinians in the enclave are facing, MSF is “alarmed” by the news of countries deciding to withhold aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
In a statement published on Saturday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini announced that nine countries suspended their funding to the humanitarian aid organisation.
The donors now withholding funds include the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia and Finland.
The UNRWA chief said this news was shocking and threatened “ongoing humanitarian work across the region including and especially in the Gaza Strip.”
According to the UN’s humanitarian office, the besieged Strip’s 1.7 million internally displaced persons are battling extreme hunger, and lack of access to fresh water, sanitation facilities and electricity.
Gaza’s health sector is also on the brink of collapse, with only 14 hospitals being functional – and even then, only partially.
MSF said this situation is “catastrophic,” and cuts to UNRWA funding will only worsen the death toll and human suffering.
MSF’s statement added, “The consequences these cuts in funding will have on the ground contradict the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice on Friday 26 January, which include immediate measures to ensure sufficient humanitarian aid flows into Gaza.”