Qatar Emir accuses Israel of genocide, political assassinations at UN Assembly

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani delivered a sharp address at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, undermining peace efforts and targeting Qatari mediation.

“Israel isn’t a democratic country surrounded by enemies, but … an enemy to its surrounding neighbors”, Sheikh Tamim told delegates.

The remarks came weeks after an Israeli attack in Doha killed six people, including a Qatari national, among them Hamas negotiators. The emir said the strike was an attempt to derail Gaza ceasefire talks.

Israel, he added, “is engaged in a genocide (in Gaza), and its leader is proud of preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state, and he promises that such a state will never be established”.

He stressed that Israel is not threatened by its neighbors.

“Israel is surrounded by states who have either signed a peace agreement or who are committed to the Arab Peace Initiative, but Israel doesn’t make do with truces and settlements.

It desires to impose its will on its surrounding Arab neighbors, and everyone who opposes its will is either antisemitic or a terrorist. Even Israel’s allies realize this fact and reject it”,

Sheikh Tamim thanked the international community for supporting Qatar following the strike. “We’ve received … solidarity in Qatar after the attack (on Doha), including a statement by the (UN) Security Council that has condemned the attack”.

He rejected Israel’s justification of the attack.

“Unlike the claim of the prime minister of Israel, this attack isn’t a legitimate right to follow perpetrators of terrorism. It’s an act of a diplomacy that’s dedicated to political assassinations, and it undermines any diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the genocide against the people in Gaza”, he said.

“It’s also an attempt to kill politicians who are members of the delegation that engages in negotiations with Israel while they were studying an American proposal".

The emir accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deliberately prolonging the conflict. He said Netanyahu seeks to make Gaza “unliveable".

“Qatari mediation has, in cooperation with Egypt and the US, achieved the release of hostages, and the last agreement was negated by Israel unilaterally, preventing an ability to reach a permanent ceasefire, and the release of all hostages, and the withdrawal of the occupying forces from the Gaza Strip … and the release of Palestinian prisoners. They visit our country and plot to attack it”, he said.

“The Israeli leader wants to continue war. He believes in what is called Greater Israel. He believes that war is an opportunity to expand settlements and to change the status quo in the holy sites (of Jerusalem)".

Sheikh Tamim vowed that Qatar would not abandon its role.

“We’ll continue to speak the truth, and we’ll engage in diplomacy when our enemies find it easier to use weapons”, he said.

“We’ve engaged to mediate an end to the war and allow for humanitarian access and release hostages and we’ve faced disinformation campaigns.

However, these campaigns won’t deter us. We’ll continue our efforts in cooperation and partnership with Egypt and the US".